Intelligent buckets
Wout’s father Pieter Hoff came up with a clever idea in the form of ‘intelligent buckets’. These smart buckets ensure that a young plant has a good basis to grow into a strong tree or shrub. Wout explains how this works:
“The problem with drip irrigation or other forms of irrigation, which you usually see in gardens, is that the water always comes from above. That basically makes plants or trees lazy. With our solution we actually stimulate the roots of the plant. Thanks to the intelligent bucket, the tree, shrub or vegetable plant develops strong roots that can grow up to three meters deep after a year. After that, he can survive well without the bucket.”
Two kinds
Two versions of the intelligent bucket have been developed:
1. The Waterboxx is a reusable version, made of plastic. You can use this for 10 years to plant one or two trees, shrubs or vegetable plants every year. 2. The Growboxx, on the other hand, is biodegradable. After a year you do not have to remove it, but it dissolves in the soil and is absorbed as compost.
“With these techniques you don’t need electricity. You also do not have to install a complex installation in the garden. The buckets have the simplicity of a paper clip and the function of a Swiss army knife,” adds Hoff.
How does it work?
The operation of the intelligent bucket is very simple. You fill the donut-shaped bucket with water and place it around a tree or plant. After that you’re done. When it rains, the buckets will fill themselves.
“Because the air cools down in the evening and the water in the bucket is still relatively warm, the bucket refills itself in the evening by means of the condensation that the bucket generates and collects. Every few weeks you check whether you might need to top it up, but in 90% of the cases that is not necessary,” says Wout enthusiastically.
Don’t wait too long to remove
After planting the tree and placing the intelligent bucket, substantial side branches will grow after nine to twelve months, now is the time to lift the Waterboxx off – and plant the next tree with it. According to Hoff, this is best done when the side branches are still flexible. So don’t wait too long.
Wout: “Sometimes we see that trees grow faster and that customers wait too long to remove the bins, which is of course a shame. The tree will survive, but at some point it will destroy the container.”
Global crisis solutions
Hoff travels a lot to introduce the world to his products. A few months ago, for example, he visited a refugee camp in southern Algeria.
Wout: “Three hundred families received our Waterboxxes as a donation. They have produced enough food to feed the entire camp. Isn’t that great? In the middle of the desert it is dramatic, because if there is a lot of drought, there is of course no possibility to get food from nature.”
But the boxes do not only offer a suitable solution in extremely dry countries, they also come in handy in the Netherlands. “In the Netherlands, a thousand trees were recently planted along highways and in polders. None of them made it. We don’t think about that, but it is of course a shame that you plant a young tree and then let it die,” he adds.
Also for your backyard
Are you going on holiday during the dry summer months? When using the intelligent buckets you can get away with peace of mind. Watering or spraying a young tree is not necessary in this way. The boxes also ensure that the water evaporates less quickly at high temperatures.
Plan
The biggest challenge for Wout at the moment is the cost price reduction of the Growboxx. “We would like to be able to replant two trees for every tree that is felled, and that is only possible if the concept is ultimately more affordable.”
Because you can plant up to 20 trees or shrubs with each Waterboxx, the cost price there is already less than one euro per tree. The ideal price for the Growboxx would also be a maximum of one euro per piece, but that requires further development.
Are you curious or interested? Watch the story again in 90 seconds here.
