In the lab, we grow trays side by side, change one condition and look closely at what happens. These tests help us develop growing recipes and decide which questions need further study.
The lab exists to serve two practical problems: can an ordinary household complete a cycle reliably, and can a controlled environment produce food that is better to eat than the same crop grown carelessly?
The team focuses on crop recipes, repeatability and the practical work of growing in a home appliance.
A test result without its conditions is not usable. Internal growing tests record the hardware version, the crop and seed lot, the recipe version, the ambient environment, the measurements taken, and the number of trays.
Results that only hold on one device, in one season, with one seed lot, are described that way.
Our scientists compare crops and growing conditions to improve recipes. Luya X1 focuses on visual monitoring and automated growing. Biological predictions and nutrition or taste adjustment are planned for the future X1 Pro; this section describes the research behind that direction.
These are internal growing trials run by our own team on our own hardware, the first evidence layer, not independent research. Each result below is a controlled comparison with the crop, the treatment and the measured outcome stated.
The research list is broader than the launch range of 10 single varieties and 2 mixes. Fourteen varieties have been through the bench so far: radish, red cabbage, kohlrabi, arugula, kale, basil, mustard, broccoli, wheatgrass, amaranth, pea, cilantro, beet and sunflower.
| Substrate | Height (cm) | Fresh weight (g/tray) |
|---|---|---|
| Cocopeatchosen | 6.94 | 37.51 |
| Peat moss | 6.45 | 31.09 |
| Jute mat | 5.49 | 24.98 |
Cocopeat won on both measures and became our substrate — it holds water, keeps airflow, is light enough for an indoor appliance, and carries few enough native nutrients that we can control EC precisely.
| Treatment | Height (cm) | Fresh weight (g) |
|---|---|---|
| Control (water only) | 3.49 | 15.12 |
| Organic, EC 1.0 | 3.43 | 12.56 |
| Inorganic, EC 1.0chosen | 4.35 | 21.22 |
At matched EC the inorganic solution produced taller stems and 69% more fresh weight than organic, and grew noticeably less fungal and bacterial contamination — which matters more in a sealed countertop appliance than in a field.
| Treatment | Height (cm) | Fresh weight (g) |
|---|---|---|
| Control · SD 0.6 | 2.39 | 4.93 |
| EC 1.0 · SD 0.6 | 5.48 | 20.66 |
| Control · SD 1.0 | 2.64 | 9.88 |
| EC 1.0 · SD 1.0chosen | 6.03 | 21.29 |
Nutrient strength moved the result far more than seed density did: without feeding, doubling the seed doubled yield; with feeding, both densities landed above 20 g. Sowing more seed is not a substitute for a correct recipe.
Germination was compared at 100, 120 and 140 ml. 120-140 ml, with a light spray during germination, gave the best rate: the band the recipes now use.
Beet germinated poorly in cocopeat and grew twisted stems. Covering the seed with vermiculite fixed both — one of several crop-specific rules that only surface by running the crop.
Plastic, sugarcane and corn-starch trays are under test, alongside composites with a PHA/PBS shell and a bamboo, sugarcane and wood-fibre core. No conclusion yet.
Biofortification trials (calcium, iron, selenium, zinc, iodine and vitamin C), and whether mild pre-harvest stress raises antioxidant and anthocyanin levels without costing yield.
Seed is weighed before sowing; seedlings are laid against a rule; trays are photographed and labelled with treatment and date, the record that turns an impression into a measurement.
These are internal trials, run by our own team on our own hardware, and they are presented as exactly that. They establish how we grow, not what the food does in a human body, which is a different kind of study we have not run.
Luya X1 uses a visual model to observe the plants and automate growing. Biological growth prediction and nutrition or taste adjustment are planned for Luya X1 Pro, a later version; they are not included in this X1 release.
Current work is internal: repeatability testing on current hardware, recipe development across the validated crop library, and building the measurement pipeline that turns camera and sensor data into usable growth records.
Beyond the bench, a formal research collaboration agreement with the University of Connecticut is signed. Nothing from it is published yet — when there is a result, it appears here with its conditions, like everything else.
Research notes, published methods and any external validation will appear here as they are reviewed. Nothing is posted while a result is still a draft, and an internal test will never be presented as an independent study.
Everything above was run by our own team, on our own hardware, under conditions we controlled. That is the first evidence layer and it has a ceiling: it cannot tell us what happens in a real kitchen, on a real schedule, in a household that did not design the machine. The second layer is Founder 100 Program, a first cohort running real cycles and reporting what actually happens, including the failures.