Cucumber grower Jan Reijm
Together with his father and uncle Jan Reijm grows 4.5 ha of high-wire cucumbers in Berkel en Rodenrijs. "We have picked up breeding the high-wire cucumber because of its continuity in the cultivation process and the higher production capabilities. Previously, we did not use any sort of coating and deployed the screen cloths if needed", he says. A demonstration by Royal Brinkman product specialist Gai Vegter drew him over the line: "He demonstrated how a laser light was scattered by the coating. This gave me a good feeling immediately." Moreover, the breeder is highly aware of the benefits of diffuse light. He follows research closely as he is a participating member in the horticultural research carried out by Wageningen University & Research in Bleiswijk.
Better control
Diffuse light penetrates deeper into the crop, allowing more leaves to participate actively in the process of photosynthesis, acknowledges Royal Brinkman account manager André Tieleman. "The light is highly scattered meaning the crop doesn’t have to endure great fluctuations between bright light and dark shadows, making the overall climate milder and easier to control."
"In last years’ second cultivation the better penetration of light could even be seen with the naked eye," says Reijm. "The crop stayed under tension for a longer period and because of the milder climate we could keep more CO2 in the greenhouse by needing to vent less. All of this led to more production. How much is hard to say because each year is different." Marel Loonwerk applied the D-Fuse coating on May 11th and applied the coating dissolver, Removit, on September 3rd. After applying the dissolvent, the coating rained off. In the meantime no wear was seen, not even in the greenhouse apexes.
André Tieleman, Royal Brinkman, with Jan Reijm
Screening strategy adjusted
The grower was planning not to use his screen cloth at all, but in the first cultivation this was too optimistic. Due to the sudden climate transition in spring, some abortion occurred. "In the second cultivation, we had sometimes closed the screens to 20% because the opened windows would emit bright sunlight. This way you’d always have a section of non-diffused direct light. But with adjusting the screening strategy it went well."
Remarkably the coating becomes transparent when it is raining. "Is it still there?" Reijm thought. This feature ensures that the light intensity is still optimal under such dark conditions. According to product specialist Gai Vegter, D-Fuse's light loss is only 2 percent: "For crops where more protection is required, D-Fuse Extra offers a good solution, which makes the light more diffuse and screens about 9-11% of the light."
Jan Reijm is positive about his experiences in the first year. "In August, the overall daily temperature in the greenhouse was significantly lower than with colleagues in the neighbourhood, and at the end of the day you could see the greenhouse temperature fall 2 degrees below the outside temperature with hot weather. This is a clear sign that the crop grows steadily in midsummer without any obstacles, and that's exactly what you want. On the basis of water consumption we also saw that the crop stayed active more longer. We started pouring water a little later, but consumption was a little bit more."
For more information:
Gai Vegter
+ 31 6 83 71 89 25
Royal Brinkman
Woutersweg 10
2691 PR 's-Gravenzande
T (0174) 44 61 00
M 06 837 189 25
E gai.vegter@royalbrinkman.com
W www.royalbrinkman.com