Botany in Horst hosted the final symposium on the future of Dutch greenhouse horticulture on Wednesday, November 8. During the symposium, which had some 150 visitors, much attention was paid to the issue of energy. Jan van Staalduinen writes at Glastuinbouw Nederland that CO2 was central to Botany's trial this year in cucumbers. Frank Huijs (Botany) and Govert Trouwborst (Plant Lighting) presented the results.
From left to right: Frank Huijs and Bram Rongen (Botany), Remco Bos (Wijnen Square Crops), Maarten Vliex (Botany), Gert van Bussel (Snack Products), Govert Trouwborst (Plant Lighting), Mark Meijers (Glastuinbouw Nederland) and Marcel Verdellen (Wijnen Square Crops).
Translating to practice
Frank: "The main conclusion is that you have to match dosing to conditions. The availability of CO2 and the climate inside and outside the greenhouse are leading. By adjusting the setpoints accordingly, you can save a lot of CO2 and natural gas while maintaining a high production level." Govert: "If you don't have CO2 available, outside air should maintain the concentration, and you should also air widely. If you do have CO2 available, maintain a setpoint of 700 ppm when the windows are closed."
More conclusions can be read at Glastuinbouw Nederland here.