Eden Concepts’ field-scale seed germinator outperforms lab units as precision planter heads toward field trials
After three SBIR wins and a successful germination test, Eden Concepts is preparing to put its planter to test in fields this spring.
Since founding his startup, Eden Concepts, in 2018, Walter Cromer has been heads down, passionately working to mature his patented seed-planting technology for use on farms across the country.
Now, Cromer said the company’s field-scale seed germination system is outperforming the lab-scale units it grew out of. If proven commercially successful, the technology would drastically change how farmers grow vegetables, flowers, and specialty crops.
What makes Eden Concepts’ technology special?
Cromer said his patented precision planting system germinates seeds on the farm and plants them directly in the soil, replacing the labor-heavy process of growing and transplanting seedlings.
During a recent visit to Eden’s test site in Lenoir City, Cromer demonstrated a prototype of his battery-powered tomato planter and walked through what has changed.
The system has two halves. A custom tank on the test site germinates seeds in bulk, then a planter in the field separates one sprouted seed at a time from a gel slurry and places it in the soil.
The planting system is pulled by an autonomous nano tractor, affectionately known as the “ANT.” Cromer got it custom from Barn Owl Precision Agriculture (BOPA) in Colorado.
Since the company’s founding, Eden has applied for four Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards and won three, including a $650,000 USDA Phase II grant in 2024. All of its funding has been nondilutive, aside from the bootstrapped funds Cromer has put in himself.
Long term, he aims to license the technology to innovative companies that support America’s farmers.
The germination process
That engineering solution is the heart of Eden’s patent. Its “singulation” process pulls one seed, and only one, from a random batch of roughly 50,000 without valves or pumps that could crush the fragile sprout. Cromer explained that the gel cushioning those seeds is mostly water mixed with a nontoxic synthetic clay to keep each seed separated.
“It’s a real innovation to be able to do this the way we’re doing it,” Cromer said.
Eden finished its field-scale germination unit earlier this year. He said it prepares enough seed to plant 10 acres, and in replicated testing it is performing better than the one-tenth-scale lab units that came before it.
The planting process
The planter has three sections. One portion opens a hole in plastic mulch, which many growers lay down for weed control. One makes an indentation in the soil. Then, the singulation section deposits the seed.
“As an entrepreneur, you can get pretty discouraged at times when you thought something was going to work, and it doesn’t,” Cromer said. “When we saw those holes perfectly placed in rows on the field, you get pretty excited. That feeling is what it’s all about.”
Cromer looks forward to testing the system in field pilots in early 2027.
Back to his roots
For Cromer, in a roundabout way, Eden is an extension of his roots. He grew up on a dairy farm in Georgia that his parents bought in the 1940s. As a family, they ran the dairy and raised thousands of free-range turkeys.
“I get some creative dreamer genes from my father,” Cromer said. “He was an entrepreneur. Farmers are entrepreneurs: underappreciated and hardworking ones.”
Cromer ended up going to college, eventually leading to a decades-long career leading business and IT teams. Eden Concepts brought him back to where he started.
“I’ve gone back to my roots,” he said. “I’ve gone back to my first love, if you will, as a career.”
As the Eden team continues to iterate the product, later this year they will move from their rural field office in Lenoir City to the Fairview Technology Center off Solway School Rd in Knoxville.
Learn more about Eden Concepts’ technology.
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