Text by Eija Lankinen

For years, the lettuce farm Conny Söderbacks Trädgård Ab Oy suffered heavy losses caused by Pythium. The situation changed in 2022 when the farm introduced EOD Nanoboost. Since then, production volumes have improved significantly—by up to 30%. Read below how Nanoboost helped save their business.

Courage Is Needed to Try Something New

Conny Söderbacks Trädgård Ab Oy is located in Northern part of Pirttikylä in the municipality of Maalahti. The company grows iceberg lettuce using modern methods on more than 9,000 m² of greenhouse area. All production is sold to Fresh Servant Ltd, whose contract grower the company has been since 2013. Fresh Servant is a Finnish food company specializing in fresh, ready-packed salads and meal solutions.

Efficiency is a key focus on the farm — something that is essential given today’s production costs. The cultivation is done in gutters that move automatically as the crop grows. Workers don’t need to move; the gutters come to them, and the lettuce is always harvested at the same end of the line.

Iceberg lettuce, a cross between crisphead and leaf lettuce, is one of the most important greenhouse crops in Finland. It has a fast growing cycle and a steady demand all year round. Despite the quick turnover, challenges remain — especially root diseases, with Pythium being the most notorious.

“A grower who has experienced Pythium knows what hell is,” – says owner Conny Söderback.

The horticultural sector has faced many challenges in recent years — from COVID-19 to the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. Conny Söderbacks Trädgård has felt the impact of all of these. On top of that, the farm struggled with severe Pythium problems.

“We decided to try adding oxygen nanobubbles to our irrigation water because we had already tried everything else against Pythium,” Conny explains. “In 2022, energy prices were extremely high, and our production was collapsing.” He had heard about nanobubbles already in 2019, but it took time before the farm was ready to test them.

“Pythium, a genus of microscopic organisms belonging to the oomycetes, is an extremely difficult plant disease. In lettuce it appears as poor growth, and the roots are almost nonexistent. Eventually, something had to be done,” Conny says.

Pythium is very common in hydroponic systems and very hard to control. It can survive in structures, pipelines, and biofilm, which is always present to some extent in irrigation systems. Even thorough disinfection often fails to eliminate it fully—and stopping production completely is rarely financially feasible.

Nanoboost Saved the Production

The farm introduced the EOD Nanoboost system at the end of December 2022. Immediately after commissioning, they noticed significant improvements in production volumes and especially in lettuce growth rates.

“Since we started oxygen fertilization with Nanoboost, neither Pythium nor any other root diseases have caused us any problems,” Conny says with relief.

The farm adopted Nanoboost through a service agreement. For many growers, this is an ideal solution, as Conny explains—it doesn’t put too much strain on cash flow at once. There’s no need to take out a large bank loan, which growers don’t always obtain easily. Payments are handled monthly.

“The service agreement has worked excellently for us. Everything has gone smoothly with EOD. We are very satisfied with the cooperation,” Conny notes.

Oxygen fertilization benefits growers of all sizes — not just large units. Conny Söderbacks Trädgård is a great example of this. EOD is ready to support growers of all scales in improving their production.

“I know that many colleagues struggle with the same problems we used to have. Now we see light ahead, so I encourage others to try adding oxygen nanobubbles to irrigation water. It’s wonderful to be able to sleep well again,” Conny concludes.

Photos by Conny Söderback and Fresh Servant archive

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