It was launched at the Myplant & Garden last month and immediately received an innovation award during the show. The product in question is Lite-Cubes of Lite-Soil. These new cubes act as water accumulators and are claimed to improve any type of soil, increasing water storage capacity and preventing soil compaction. 
Lite-Cubes in the soil (left), and watercress without Lite-Cubes in the soil (right) grow much better with the Lite-Cubes than without them, as the roots look for the water-filled Lite-Cubes to anchor themselves there.
These cubes are ideal for nurseries", says Maximilian Geppert Marketing and Communication Manager at the company. "They can simply be added to the ground in the filling container (about 5% -10% vol). The cubes are large enough to preserve their properties while having the right dimensions for their use in plant potting machines. The seedlings will have enough water to start developing, since they are equipped with an ideal environment from the first moment. When using the Lite-Cubes, the rate of rejection of seedlings will be lower and it makes tree propagation easier and safer."
The cubes are available in different materials; wood fiber, PLA, or polypropylene. "The cubes made of wood fiber and the ones made of PLA are both biodegradable, but the wood fiber will degrade in one year and the PLA in 5-10 years."
Lite-Cubes is a new addition to the Lite-Drain series of Lite-Soil. This series consists of different aeration and irrigation systems suitable for tree nurseries and landscapes. "The products in this series are the sustainable solution for modern efficient and intelligent greening and irrigation." The Lite-Cubes comes the closest to their existing product Lite-Strips (a water storage close to the roots), but is smaller in size and therefore more suitable for smaller scale. 'The Lite-Strips are mostly used for lawn irrigation and Lite-Cubes are more suitable to be used in a small container."
Lite-Strips and Lite-Cubes with sand.
However, combined, Lite-Strips and Lite-Cubes are also ideal for sand slit drainage, explains Geppert. "Simply mixed into the sand, they increase the drainage capacity and allow for an improved aeration and drainage of the treated lawn. It is a new application that we will present at the demopark fair in Germany (June 23-25, 2019)."
For more information
Lite-Soil GmbH 
Maximilian Geppert
Email: [email protected]
Neustiftgasse 94
A-1070 Wien
F +43 1 5227310
www.lite-soil.com