HortiHands, part of Pack TTI, recently delivered a new Lanz Venti V004 pruning machine at Leo Ammerlaan's plant nursery (part of the Plantise group). With this machine, young plants in trays are pruned and the clippings are directly extracted and collected undamaged, so that possibly these can be used again as a cutting.
The Lanz Venti V004 pruning machine
Thanks to fine-cut knives with long teeth that also cut off softer crops, the cutting remains of good quality. The Venti has adjustable speeds of the conveyor belt, knives and fans, and is also easy to move.
HortiHands, which includes all green & pruning applications, is one of the three branches of the Japanese Pack TTI company in which the business activities are divided. The other two branches are FlowerHands, which includes all flower processing & automation, and VegHands, which covers all handling of vegetables.
Harvesting microgreens & herbs
Besides the Lanz Venti, the VegHands division also has some news. A new harvester has been included in the program for harvesting microgreens and herbs (see video below). The 600 mm version of this system has been running for some time at a customer in the UK, and to their own satisfaction. Trays are transported smoothly under the cutting machine and the usually delicate crop is gently blown onto a conveyor belt and removed without damage. Currently, larger versions of 1200 and 1600 mm wide are being developed, and these should be available in the spring of 2019. This allows complete roller tables to be harvested in one time in the same delicate way.
For more information about the Lanz Venti head to: www.hortihands.com. The harvesting machine for microgreens is soon to be seen on the renewed website www.veghands.com. More information can also be obtained from Christian Oosterlaan: co@packtti.com