Since 2017 acniti is active in Japan with flower growers to increase flower production both in volume and quality. The first year we cooperated with the growers to setup trials and built up know-how for both parties. We quickly learned in the first season, that the technology worked well. Unfortunate for acniti, the growers decided to stop the trial and apply the nano bubble irrigation water to the whole greenhouse.

In 2018 more growers in Aichi opted for the acniti submersible ultrafine bubble generators in combination with an oxygen concentrator and in 2019 more growers are lining up to start applying the ultrafine bubbles. Some growers now use multiple machines for their multiple greenhouses. One of the reasons the acniti submersible ultrafine bubble units are so popular is that the investment is low and the return on investment for the small greenhouses in Japan works out.

The trials where done with carnation growers in Aichi, Japan. Aichi is the third largest growing area of Japan. Planting first week of July 2017, usually the first flush of flowers is between November and December. The area is very hot in the period of July through September with a daily average temperature of 33°C (92°F) and humidity of well over 80%. Making a greenhouse climate not very comfortable for the crop nor pleasant for a grower to work in.

One of tests was done in a greenhouse of 1500m2 with 10 carnation varieties. Viper Wine, Kleos, Vogue, Hurricane, Moonlight, Tico, Tico Violet, Nobbio, Cabaret, Master, Ormea, and Cotton Candy.

The dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were increased from 4 ppm to 30 ppm by recirculating the irrigation water through the acniti submersible ultra-fine bubble generator that connects to an oxygen concentrator. The oxygen concentrator produces over 6 lpm (1.3 GPM) of O2 with a purity of more than 92%. The growers use a day storage tank of 30m3 (6,600 gallons) which required 4 hours to bring the DO up to 30 ppm and inject billions of ultrafine bubbles in the water. The ultrafine bubbles have an average size of 110 nm, which is smaller than a cell, so the nanobubbles are easily absorbed by the plant roots cells. All the other cultivation practices stayed the same.

The tests showed good results on stem quality, size of flower, shoot count, volume of the stems and growth speed. One of the growers reported also a decrease of used fertilizer down to 65% of what he normally uses and the ability to ship out the first stems at a more than average length.

Besides the above improvements with nano bubble irrigation water: also, problems of withering and dying plants stopped. These results gave a very positive outlook on the acniti nano bubble generator with oxygen concentrator, and now the ufb units are not only installed in carnation nurseries but also in gerbera’s and lisianthus greenhouses.

The ultrafine bubble irrigation water improves soil and crop significantly in areas that were planted repeatedly with the same crop. In areas of the greenhouse prone to fusarium the oxygen rich water removed fusarium problems completely as the natural soil bacteria thrive well in an oxygen rich environment while the fusarium thrives in oxygen poor conditions. Acniti is currently running tests at rose growers, chrysanthemum growers and bouvardia growers and are convinced it will have similar results.

Apart from flower cultivation the acniti ultrafine bubble generators are also successfully used in tomato, bell pepper, lettuce and cucumber production. Acniti`s ultra-fine bubble generators have proven its value in better harvest results.