Tomato growers Pascal Delahaye and Matthieu Serrault of Le Jardin de Rabellais, and Christian Jouno of Tomwest were keen to increase their winter production in an energy-efficient, sustainable way. Both companies plant young plants in between the generative older plants which are still producing tomatoes. These young plants require sufficient light to grow, which can be difficult while the leaves of the older plants intercept the light from the sun and the HPS lighting. The result of providing LED light between the plants will affect the internode – the distance from one leaf to the next – being much shorter which results in a stronger plant.
Le Jardin de Rabellais and Tomwest will each deploy Philips GreenPower LED interlighting, over an area of 1.6 Ha and 1.0 Ha respectively. In each case the LED interlighting will supplement HPS toplighting, adding 110 μmol to the overall light level. With the new installation they expect to increase their production up to 30%.
Proven benefits
With Philips GreenPower LED interlighting modules, it is possible to provide light between the tomato plants – without unwanted heat generation. This means that the plants can be lit at the points where they gain most benefit. Various other commercial projects and pre-launch trials demonstrated that this interlighting results in much higher yields and more efficient plant production, as the light provided can be converted more efficiently into sugars, the building blocks of the plant.The combination of GreenPower LED interlighting and HPS or LED toplighting offers not only considerable energy savings, but also much greater control over the growth process. During the growing season, the grower can decide how to use light to respond best to, for example, the condition of the plants, climate conditions, and the plant load. In addition, Philips offers growers expertise from its plant physiologists and application specialists, who can advise the best approach to each specific situation, with every plant type receiving a specific and unique light recipe.
For further information:
Philips Horticulture LED Solutions
Marjan Welvaarts, Global Marcom Manager Horticulture
Tel.: +31 (0)6 1504 3893
E-mail: marjan.welvaarts@philips.com
www.philips.com/horti
Certhon
John Lagerwerf, Marketing & PR
Tel.: +31 (0)174 22 50 80
E-mail: john.lagerwerf@certhon.com
www.certhon.com