Horticulture anno 2017: LED, fog and back to nature

The use of high pressure spray is a good example of this. "The application of this is ever increasing. In order to keep biological fighters alive, the grower must be able to reduce the temperature in the greenhouse. The high pressure fog system is a good solution. The fog reduces the temperature in the greenhouse and still maintains the CO2- level." Stolze has developed its own high pressure fog system: S-Fog. It has been on the market now for 1.5 years. The launch of S-Fog marked the start of searching for plug-and-play solutions. Bram: "The grower now can install the couplings himself. That is simple and he is saving the cost of installation. And that is an added bonus, isn’t it?

Stolze is a Philips partner. These LED fixtures are easy to install. Bram: "LED lighting had a long way to go when it came on the market. Already there has been a lot of research. The light formulas have now been devised. In lettuce cultivation, certain colors in the light spectrum make for surprising effects. LED will be the lighting for the future. It's still a matter of making the financial aspects work out." In blackberry cultivation this has already succeeded. Stolze recently installed the first LED lighting at a blackberry cultivation company.

One of these developments is the increasing focus on biological approach. The biological disinfecting of water is one of them. The use of sand filters from long ago seems to be coming back. Bram: "The WaterIQ water purification system is received positively. The aerobic, healthy bacteria are left over. This way you can keep water quality well under control." Priva's water purification solution works differently. This one uses UV. Bram: "With this you achieved the cleanest results. Growers have a choice. And that's great."

Stolze Installation Technology is a dynamic company. From Maasdijk, sometimes projects are on-going in 16 countries at the same time. More than 100 employees work hard to get the job done. By the way, we still have sufficient vacancies here if you are looking for a job.

Bram concludes with the words: "We are pleased that the Netherlands continues to be number one in knowledge on horticultural engineering. We must treasure this. The Netherlands is still the basis for the world of horticulture."