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| Models pose with LG Electronics' indoor plant cultivator "tiiun" at a pop-up store in Seongsu-dong in eastern Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of LG Electronics |
By Baek Byung-yeul
LG Electronics has brought gardening indoors. The home appliance maker launched "tiiun," which allows consumers to grow various plants, such as flowers and vegetables, at home.
The company said Thursday that the new machine is a "plant household appliance" that automates most of the plant cultivation process so that even beginners can easily grow plants.
By simply installing a seed kit in the inner shelf of the device and supplying water and nutrients, users can grow their own plants in four to eight weeks, depending on the plant type.
The company named that the new device, "tiiun," based on the Korean word meaning "sprouted."
The plant cultivator has two shelves and three kinds of seed kits for each shelf, which means that consumers can grow up to six plants at a time. Regardless of the season, vegetables can be harvested in about four weeks, herbs in about six weeks and flowers can bloom after around eight weeks, the company said.
"To grow plants, you need to know how to control temperature, light, wind and water, and it takes time and care. This complex process was automated by this device. With this device, beginners can also feel the joy of witnessing the process of sprouting and growing plants," a company official said at a pop-up store in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul.
To let more people know about the device, the company will operate the pop-up store temporarily from Friday through early November.
Featuring an automatic temperature control system, the device helps plants grow in an environment similar to their natural habitats, while water is automatically supplied eight times a day. It has enhanced the process of plant photosynthesis by using LED lights.
The device is priced at 1.49 million won ($1,255) and LG will sell 20 kinds of seed kits, including three kinds of flowers, 12 vegetables and five herbs, through its mobile app or at LG Best Shop retail stores.
LG said that it aims to develop a new market with the plant cultivator just as the company created a clothing care home appliance market with its Styler steam closet. According to data by the Korea Invention Promotion Association, the domestic plant cultivation device market is expected to grow 50 times in four years from about 10 billion won in 2019 to 500 billion won in 2023.
