UbiGro aims for innovation in how growers optimize sunlight

Added on 18 December 2023

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UbiGro aims for innovation in how growers optimize sunlight

Photo: UbiGro

UbiGro films were installed and tested in a hydroponic greenhouse located at Growing Opportunities Farm in Alcalde, NM. In this five-month plant trial, two sections of UbiGro films were suspended over a row of 126 beefsteak tomato plants. The tomato production under these films was compared to a control row located in the same greenhouse that was only exposed to un-modified sunlight. There were three rows of tomatoes in between the two test rows, which served as barrier rows, ensuring the light conditions for the film and control row were distinct. The 30-foot by 90-foot greenhouse had a double polyethylene cover that was whitewashed to lower light intensity during the summer.

Yield enhancement was consistently observed throughout the duration of the trial. This resulted in a +20.5% overall increase in fresh weight harvested under the UbiGro films relative to the control. The benefit was most pronounced in high-light level months of June and July. There were no observed differences in color, flavor, or overall quality of the fruit harvested from the two separate rows of tomatoes.

Films were tested for stability regularly throughout the plant trial, and the relative luminescent quantum yield, or photon conversion efficiency, was compared. The quantum yield of the film correlates with the brightness of the emission, and therefore indicates the performance of the film over time. Over the course of the five-month summer trial, the UbiGro films showed no degradation in quantum yield, indicating no change in the optical properties of the film. The films have remained installed in the greenhouse for an additional 77 days and the film has maintained its original optical performance.

How It Works

UbiGro glows when illuminated with sunlight. Unlike shade cloths, spray coatings or colored films that filter light, the technology converts short-wavelength photons (blue and UV) to longer wavelength photons (orange and red).