Growfoam, a biodegradable plant substrate for seedling germination and plant cultivation, offers a safe, reliable and sustainable alternative to technical foam materials. It has no effect on plants, making it an ideal medium for LST to obtain only data generated by the performance of the plant, the environment and the nutrient provided.

Light Science Technologies (LST), one of the UK's fast-emerging AgriTech companies, has partnered with Dutch company Foamplant to harness its pioneering Growfoam product to collate plant performance data in its new, state-of-the-art lab.

Growfoam, a biodegradable plant substrate for seedling germination and plant cultivation, offers a safe, reliable and sustainable alternative to technical foam materials. It has no effect on plants, making it an ideal medium for LST to obtain only data generated by the performance of the plant, the environment and the nutrient provided.
The dimensionally stable, peat-free and clean plant foam-substrate is being used at LST's in-house lab, due to be opened in March, a purpose-built facility constructed for plant science and the development of horticulture lighting and environmental technologies.
Here the Derby-based company will create the perfect growing recipe using fully updateable, bespoke, and intelligent lighting solutions, all integrated to help grow the optimal yield while reducing CAPEX and OPEX cost.
Working in partnership with clients and industry experts, LST's in-house laboratory team will help test new crops in its controlled environment chambers. Running up to 12 concurrent trials in 6 chambers, LST's cutting-edge technology mimics any environment controlling temperature, humidity and CO2, using historical and real-time data to help create the right recipe for growers.
Plant performance data will be obtained using Growfoam which has been tailored to LST's specific crop requirements. This is thanks to GrowFoam's ability to be tuned in composition, foam morphology and foam cell size as it is produced from biodegradable biopolymers and natural additives.
Simon Deacon, CEO of Light Science Technologies added: "Our partnership with Growfoam paves the way for significant developments in our new laboratory which will bring multiple benefits to growers and indeed, the industry. Through our plant performance testing we will be able to provide the tools that are vital to growers to achieve the perfect growing recipe and in turn, maximum yield, while saving energy and costs. In short, it's about growing more for less."
Martin Tietema, CEO of Foamplant, said: "Our collaboration with Light Science Technologies is recognition of the unique characteristics of Growfoam being clean, fully biodegradable and reliable. With growing demand from CEA farmers and growers for this product, we see significant opportunity to further develop our technical knowledge working closely with LST, on how to optimise cultivation results with Growfoam. Based on those results, we can firmly position ourselves as a leading partner in safe and sustainable food production for this market which is developing rapidly."

About Light Science Technologies
Light Science Technologies delivers lighting, science and research-proven plant monitoring technology and software in partnership with world-leading university research teams. We work across multiple indoor applications including vertical farming, greenhouses and medicinal plants, delivering the right solution no matter what environment. Our real time monitoring and control, links technicians, farmers, and facility managers with their crops to provide instant production enhancement data. Its integrated technology solution for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) applications for next-generation scalable farming helps customers grow more with less. For further information, visit: www.lightsciencetech.com.

About Light Science Technology Holdings
Light Science Technology Holdings Ltd brings together market leading controlled environment agriculture technology (Light Science Technologies) and quality led UK based electronic manufacturing (UK Circuits and Electronics Solutions) to help our customers grow more with less. It specialises in creating and manufacturing bespoke solutions for global clients across agriculture, electronics, audio, automotive, AI technology and pest control industries.

About Growfoam
It is our Mission to enable safe & sustainable food production for everyone by bringing clean, reliable & affordable plant substrates to the market while maintaining the lowest carbon footprint possible. Growfoam enables a completely clean & hygienic cultivation process to make your company future-proof. Growfoam offers a fully biodegradable (compostable) material. Our production and R&D is located in the Netherlands.
For further information www.growfoam.ag n.steenvoorden@foamplant.nl