Research and development at Klasmann-Deilmann

Innovation and sustainability

Klasmann-Deilmann’s reputation as the most sustainable and innovative company in the growing media industry can be attributed primarily to its great commitment to research and development. Especially in the field of alternative substrate constituents, its experts are constantly on the lookout for ways to provide the best possible support for the company’s partners in the professional horticultural business.

Assuming responsibility for the environment and society also means developing new growing media while keeping an eye on the technical, economic, ecological and social aspects of our products. Klasmann-Deilmann does just that and is constantly redefining the limits of what is possible and what makes most sense from the horticultural point of view. As the industry’s innovation leader, Klasmann-Deilmann assumed a pioneering role in the research and development of alternative substrate constituents. In the early 1990s, it was the first company to develop compost growing media, which were based on green compost. To do so, it first had to set up its own composting facility and develop an in-house quality system, because the quality standards in force at that time were not sufficiently strict to establish green compost as a high-grade substrate constituent. Klasmann-Deilmann also produces its own wood fibres and is continuously enhancing this raw material.

Klasmann-Deilmann pursues these objectives in close cooperation with universities, colleges, training and research centres and with its suppliers, conducting joint research projects with these partners. The company’s experts are also in permanent consultation with the professional horticultural industry. They take note of the ideas and requirements stated by the horticultural companies and transform them into innovative product solutions.

In the compost sector, Klasmann-Deilmann and a partner in the Netherlands have been conducting a joint research project since 2013, aimed at creating compost extract (“compost tea”) with live bacteria. These specifically enriched bacteria groups accelerate the conversion of ammonia from organic fertilisers into nitrate in organic substrates. This means that the fertiliser is more efficient and has a positive influence on plant growth.

To find out whether other types of wood are suitable for fibre production in addition to the tried-and-tested softwoods, Klasmann-Deilmann is currently investigating new technical methods of wood fibre production. This requires a great deal of fundamental research in cooperation with wood technology and wood chemistry research institutes. The decisive criteria for each new substrate constituent are maximum growing reliability for the horticultural business, as wide a range of applications as possible, cost effectiveness and sustainability.