On Wednesday afternoon, the latest developments in lighting were again discussed at the LichtEvent. An important part of the program was discussing five trends with three growers. They shared their experiences with their colleagues, who had come to Bleiswijk in large numbers.
Then it was time for workshops and tours of the greenhouses of both host Delphy and Wageningen University & Research. Delphy and WUR organized the LichtEvent together with Glastuinbouw Nederland and Plant Lighting as part of the Kas als Energiebron (Greenhouse as a Source of Energy) innovation program.
© Thijmen Tiersma | FD.com
Lars van Baar (Agro Care), Harry Wubben (Harry Wubben Flowers), Ruud Duijvesteijn (Opti-Flor) and Eric Poot (Delphy) during the panel discussion on trends in lighting. View the photo report of the afternoon here.
Increasingly full LED
The honor of discussing five trends went to Anja Dieleman of Wageningen University & Research. The first trend, which will not have been new to anyone in the room, is the switch from HPS lighting to LED lighting. "Actually, everything has changed because of this," the plant physiology researcher indicated. LED lighting affects CO₂, moisture and heat, to name a few things.
On the stage was tomato grower Lars van Baar of Agro Care, Harry Wubben of Harry Wubben Flowers and Ruud Duijvesteijn of Opti-Flor, an orchid grower. All three growers now have experience with LED, and increasingly with 100% LED. Six of the eight greenhouses at Agro Care in Middenmeer have now switched to full LED. The remaining 2 greenhouses are on the verge of switching from hybrid to full LED.
Ornamental growers Harry and Ruud have also already made the switch to full LED. Harry acknowledged that he was shocked during the first winter under full LED. At the time, he felt he still had a lot to learn. One winter later, he is already a lot more positive. "It was enjoyable in the garden," he says. According to the santini grower, it's and-and which makes that, all in all, LED works well for him.
At Opti-Flor, the cold departments are equipped with 100% LED. All the warm departments for orchid cultivation will also go to full LED in the near future. There are still doubts about turning on far-red. Installed, admits Ruud, but do you turn it on?
Spectrum selection and dynamic lighting
Ruud's question links up with the second trend Anja mentions: steering with spectrum. In tomatoes, growers try to control the problem of oedema with far-red. In ornamentals, with several varieties often together in a greenhouse, the challenge is to get the right spectra to the right plants. Not to mention what that right spectrum is. There is still plenty of research being done on this, although more and more growers at least seem to be moving away from purely red-blue lighting, and wanting to add green to their spectrum as well.
LED manufacturers, in addition to more spectrum choices, have also made available to growers the option of dynamic lighting thanks to dimmable luminaires. Tomato grower Lars knows the possibilities and stressed that it is important to look not only at electricity savings but also at pollination. After all, the bumblebees need to keep flying. During the tour, trials for the Lighting Master Plan also included a comparison between dynamic lighting, or 'intervals in tomato cultivation', a visitor rightly noted, and stable continuous lighting.
© Annet Breure | FD.comFull house at the LichtEvent, with growers and technology companies. See the photo report of the afternoon here.
Where is it going?
Items four and five in Anja's presentation dealt with 'intelligent strategies' and growers were also asked which sensors they would like to add in their crops. Harry is testing with sensors from Vivent, which monitor the 'heart rhythm' of his crop. He is enthusiastic about the mountain of knowledge it gives him. In Opti-Flor's greenhouses, Sendot sensors measure photosynthesis efficiency and track evaporation with scales. Agro Care also works with Sendot sensors.
Where things will go in the next three years, Eric Poot of the three growers still wants to know. Ruud, looking at promising trials of daylightless growing, sees the first daylightless greenhouse for orchid cultivation being built within the next three years. Harry is testing CO2 capture with Skytree technology and sees a future in this, and Lars points to insect netting and dehumidification as developments to watch. This is also already happening now, and for those not yet in the know, there were workshops and tours to catch up.