Major British lettuce grower switches to LED
“It’s great to see how our network of growers are ambassadors across the entire globe,” said Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Philips Lighting. “In this case, they were able to show how LEDs can help them speed up their crop cycles and grow more compact plants. That’s the real value of working with people who are passionate about their professions.”
Madestein UK was founded in 1982 and has introduced many innovations to the UK market, including curly leaf lettuce in the late 1980s and living mixed lettuce in 2001. They currently focus on producing glasshouse lettuce and growing fresh basil all year. In addition to conventional growing methods, Madestein UK employs sustainable growing methods such as a Deep Flow hydroponic system which makes efficient use of water and minimizes the chances of groundwater contamination.
The company has been investigating LED grow lights for a long period and carried out several LED trials at its site in Chichester from 2014 to 2017.
Peter Zwinkels and his grandchildren Noah and Grace
Jonathan Zwinkels at Madestein UK says, “We are seeing a strong demand for UK grown lettuce and herbs, so we’ve been exploring ways to raise our productivity. We were impressed with what we saw in our trials and confirmed those views with visits to growers in the Netherlands and Finland who are using LEDs to grow lettuce. Our aim is to use LED grow lights to improve quality, reduce the impact of adverse weather conditions, and improve the shelf life of our products.”
The LEDs will be installed by Philips Lighting’s Horti LED partner Cambridge HOK.
For more information:
Philips Lighting
www.philips.com