Following a recent webinar, journalist Heather Briggs from The Commercial Greenhouse Grower explored how plant biosignals can help growers fine-tune irrigation, nutrition, lighting and crop protection strategies. Her article highlights how real-time information directly from plants can support more informed decisions in the greenhouse and in the field.
Fleur Gulien, Lead Plant Scientist at Vivent Biosignals, shared insights from trials using Vivent’s biosensors to optimise irrigation, nutrition and other crop management strategies. These findings were subsequently explored by journalist Heather Briggs in her article on fine-tuning irrigation and nutrition strategies using biosensors.
In her article, Heather highlights several insights from Vivent’s trials, including:
- 27% less water with 22% higher yield in a cucumber trial using plant-driven irrigation.
- Plant signals detected a calcium deficiency 17 days before Blossom End Rot became visible in tomatoes.
- Biosignals helped identify iron deficiency in a crop where the issue could not be diagnosed through visual symptoms.
These examples show how real-time plant data can complement environmental measurements and help growers understand how their crops are actually responding.
From irrigation and nutrition to lighting and crop protection, plant biosignals open new possibilities for more precise and responsive crop management.
The full article by Heather Briggs runs on pages 37 and 38 of The Commercial Greenhouse Grower, September/October 2026.
Author: Heaher Briggs
Source: The Commercial Greenhouse Grower
