Foil greenhouse lets Belgian strawberry grower expand

Nowadays, not that many new greenhouses are being built in the Netherlands. So, a project like that of the Lambrechts family is especially noteworthy. These strawberry growers had a Ventrio foil greenhouse built.

Trading companies CJ Klep, Agrowser VDH, and JB Hydroponics have now realized four of the same kind of greenhouses, with a fifth under construction. They demonstrated such a greenhouse at a recent open day where the growers and suppliers were present.

The plot where Elsanta strawberries now grow used to be a tree nursery. The strawberry growers managed to buy the land and could, thus, expand. They have glass greenhouses at other locations but chose a Ventrio foil greenhouse for this site.

The greenhouse's limited height (2.60 meters gutter height, 3.4 meters ridge height) was an important reason for this. The 2.2 foil greenhouse is considered a "crop support facility." That made it "easier" to get a permit. These days, that real challenge limits new construction in horticulture.

Ventilation capacity
When building a greenhouse, water, ventilation, and light is vital. These are all well taken care of in the Ventrio. The ventilation is particularly distinctive. Under one roof are three hanging, open gutters (deliberately so as to be easy to clean). Above that, a rack and pinion track lets you open the ventilation wide. That gives this type of greenhouse "a very high ventilation capacity," the construction parties repeatedly emphasized to the Open Day's visitors.

That was evident in early September's summer weather. The inside temperature of the foil greenhouse- topped with diffused foil - remained 4 degrees lower than the 30°C outside. Also, the strawberry plants are watered from a freshly dug basin topped with floating solar panels and a special cover that keeps the water quality good.

In 2020, Robert van Aert, a Dutch strawberry grower, was the first to have a Ventrio greenhouse built. Several strawberry growers followed. By adapting the canopy width to 4 meters, you can cultivate blackberries or raspberries in Ventrio foil greenhouses, too.

Now that this project has been completed at Lambrechts, a fifth Ventrio is on its way to Denmark. Strawberry growers there also want to take advantage of the foil greenhouse's unique properties. It should be able to compete with non-heated glass greenhouse cultivation. The Lambrechts family will experience that in the coming years.

See the Open Day's photo impression here.

These parties helped make the complete construction of the Ventrio greenhouse possible: