TTA USA: Transform vegetative propagation

How do you automate vegetative propagation and planting plugs when growers have a wide variety of plant material and each needs to be treated differently?

Michiel Mans: We start with detection. For our CuttingEdge automated sticking machine for planting rooted and unrooted cuttings, any cutting can be placed in a random configuration on the belt. A camera above it detects the cutting it is and relays the planting information to the robot so the robot knows where to pick up the cutting, how much pressure to use and how to place it in the soil. It can be rooted or unrooted, or both on the same belt. The detection models come from one database of cutting images that are shared among our customers. We have a few hundred per plant genus. For instance, you could do all your bedding plants with CuttingEdge.

Can growers optimize the CuttingEdge for their own unique plug planting needs, like type of trays or planting depth?

Tucker Lynn: Absolutely. It can be optimized quickly in a couple of days. You can optimize how deep you want to plant, even if the stems are different lengths, and how many cuttings are in a cell, pot or tray. You can optimize planting patterns. It doesn’t matter what type of tray you have or how big or small the plant material is. You can make sure it has the room it needs in the plug.

Photos courtesy of TTA

What if a grower needs to add a type of plant or has started propagating a plant that’s brand new to the market?

Michiel Mans: All we need are pictures of the new plant genus, and here at TTA, we use them to train a new detection model. The end is something that is shared among all users. That is something we improve as our network of users grows. So, the ease increases. We already have over 160 plant genus in the database.

How many plants can be planted in an hour with CuttingEdge?

Tucker Lynn: The machine can do 2,500 cuttings an hour. And the speed does not change with the plant like with human labor. Planting manually can get more difficult the thinner a stem gets. That’s not a problem with the robot. It’s consistent, too. It’s also scalable. You can plant more plants without adding more people. With one infeed and one outfeed, you can have up to four CuttingEdge machines in series. You only need one operator as it scales, which saves on labor costs. It’s simple to adjust as you grow.

How long does it take to get the CuttingEdge automation up and running in a greenhouse?

Tucker Lynn: Last week, we installed one and ran it in just three days, even with optimization. It will work with your standard infrastructure.