Australia: New greenhouse (10 ha) for Victor Smorgon Group

"In the early spring of 2012, we received the go-ahead for the final implementation of Phase 3: a complete turnkey horticulture project of 10 hectares," says Van der Hoeven Horticultural Projects. The project is commissioned by customers in Australia, the Victor Smorgon Group.

Swift construction time

In May 2012 the company started laying the foundation and by the end of September 2012 the first crops were planted in the greenhouse. Truly an impressive achievement, especially when one considers that most of the material comes from Europe and takes about 10 weeks to reach the workers. Since the greenhouse is built in a very hot climate, this phase is once again realized with a pad and fan cooling.

Special glass

Furthermore, special attention is paid to the type of glass on the deck. Since the nursery includes a total of 8 separate departments, it was decided to do a large-scale trial to determine which type of glass would be the most beneficent for the next phase.

At this moment, standard 91% greenhouse is compared to 96% and 96% horticultural glass in several diffuse varieties. The results can tell us more about the impact of specific types of glass in this climate, especially the influence of the higher light transmission and possibly the diffusivity. A trial on this scale is unprecedented and promises some interesting results.