Last week Greenhouse Grower published a nice article about new automation in greenhouse horticulture, including Plantfellows innovations.

“Plantfellow, a Netherlands-based software and data company, has spent the past few years developing and testing two greenhouse innovations that it hopes will be ready for a large-scale market launch in 2023: the digital scouting solution ScoutCam and the phenotyping solution AutoPheno.

The ScoutCam has been tested in cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, chrysanthemum, and gerbera, with a primary focus on monitoring for thrips.

“We are now seeing the first positive results in greenhouses, which is unique with this kind of system for thrips,” says Jasper van der Auweraert, Innovation Developer at Plantfellow. “Insects fly everywhere, and the next step will be the monitoring of biological control agents.”

What sets the ScoutCam apart, according to van der Auweraert, is its stable digital count.

“There are systems for counting whiteflies using a mobile phone, but such systems are more sensitive to light and to the person taking the photos than our system is,” he says. “This is because we attach the system to a greenhouse column, which gives it stability. We also have control over the lighting and the sharpness of the photos.”

Now that the technology works, Plantfellow is looking to translate the data for the ScoutCam into information that the grower can use immediately.

“The information must be of immediate practical use. Think, for example, of the translation of a figure about the number of pest insects caught on a sticky trap into when the grower needs to apply his biologicals,” van der Auweraert says of the data. “It’s about converting camera information into information for the grower.”

Read the whole article on Greenhousegrower.com.