PlantTape Inc.

By A Mystery Man Writer

Last updated 17 Jul 2024

The PlantTape automated transplanting system increases crop yield, improves efficiency, and lowers per-acre cost for growers of hemp, tomatoes, and vegetables in the US and across the globe. Sowing operations: once a customer's seed is received to a PlantTape sowing facility, it is inventoried and stored in a secure, climate-controlled room until sowing. Seeds are sown into PlantTape material, after which the material is cut into strips (i.e, tape), folded, and loaded into trays of 840 seeds each. The sown PlantTape is palletized, wrapped and labeled for immediate delivery to a commercial nursery or farming operation for germination at the desired time. Because PlantTape sows seeds into a completely dry tape environment, growers can delay germination to account for unforeseen changes in weather or transplanting schedule. Nursery operations: nurseries initiate germination via standard irrigation methods. PlantTape trays hold 840 plants—2-3 times more than standard transplant trays. With a denser seedling population, PlantTape maximizes nursery space and improves efficiencies through the nursery and field transportation process. PlantTape transplants can be planted at any stage of growth. Such flexibility in the planting schedule allows growers to mitigate the impact of adverse weather and other uncontrollable circumstances. Because PlantTape seedlings can be planted much younger than conventional transplants, nurseries have shorter growing cycles and higher overall throughput. Transplanting: from the nursery, trays of PlantTape transplants are loaded into bins and shipped to the field, where they are loaded into the PlantTape automated transplanter. The transplanter pulls the PlantTape material from the trays and places each transplant into the ground according to precise settings line spacing, plant spacing, and depth. PlantTape's 3-point planter can be adjusted in the field for almost any bed configuration.