Higher production in winter
On gutters, Desmet is growing year round Salatrio crops, red and green oak leaf and Lollo bionda. He installed Philips GreenPower LED toplighting DR / W / LB with 80 micromol per sqm. That way he can, particularly in the winter, achieve a higher production than before. Belgian Philips LED Horti Partner Mais Automatisering installed a total of 2.610 toplighting LED modules on 14.460 sqm.
Radiant heat forms no obstacle
The lettuce grower wants to get as much production as possible from every square meter. That's why he has not chosen a hybrid system. Hybrid lighting still creates 50% of radiant heat. This heat makes the air temperature rise too much, so the climate is unsuitable for growing lettuce.
Danielle Smits -Tuijl, plant specialist at Philips explains where the opportunities lie, "Although radiant heat contributes to plant temperature, it can also be heated in other ways. For SON-T you have no choice, because the lights also radiate heat. With LED light you have the ability to separate light and heat and send them separately. Therefore, it is possible to increase the number of lighting hours with LED and achieve a higher level of lighting."
More quantity and quality
LED is paving the way to higher production, because it will also illuminate at times when the outside conditions are too 'soft'. The plants are given light energy at the right time. So Desmet expects a higher production due to the higher light levels, more lighting hours and a higher plant density. It is expected that the lettuce will be more compact, firmer and with a better red coloration in comparison to the product from the department with SON-T lighting.
For further information please contact:
Philips Horticultural LED Lighting