Picking the first cucumbers grown without daylight

Bred from seed, grown entirely in an environment without any daylifght. These are the cucumbers that Mayor Sjaak van der Tak harvested from the PlantyFood growth cell.

John Lagerwerf from Certhon: "Van der Tak was just nominated for his third term. That's good for business in general and horticulture in particular. He is very committed to our sector. And this happened to occur at the same time as the first harvest from our daylight-free growth cells. So this seemed like a good combination."

The PlantyFood climate cell from which Van der Tak harvested is a Certhon novelty. A number of known Certhon techniques are used in the climate cell, like climate control, and a couple of novelties. For example, water-cooled LED lamps are suspended in the cell - a product from Certhon’s own R&D department. "SON-T lamps give off much heat. Especially in an enclosed space it gets too hot for the plants. These lamps produce significantly less heat, but keep the light level. That's a big difference." Also new for Certhon is plant propagation, especially from seed. Lagerwerf: "A few years ago we saw a both national and international demand for these types of applications from customers. So we set up an agronomic department. They know everything about the relationship between technique and botany and
can deliver a specific product. This is now paying off. And providing cucumbers."

Growing fruiting vegetables without daylight is a new development for horticulture. Does Certhon expect there to be a great market for the cultivation of fruiting vegetables in climate cells? 

"We don’t see the PlantyFood container as a finished product, but we do want to show what is possible with these techniques. Growers can invent their own applications for climate control and lighting, among others. For us its about optimizing cultivation for various growers. Now we can demonstrate the technical possibilities for that."