Five light recipes over five different crops in one location

When you run a commercial greenhouse and decide to expand the variety of flowers and vegetables beyond the roses you've primarily cultivated, it might be a good idea to bring in flexible lighting that could deliver different photon recipes to different crops.

That's what Canadian grower Rose Drummond is doing, turning to Montreal-based Sollum Technologies for an LED system that will enable it to adjust spectra, intensity, and duration as it ramps up operations in gerberas, alstroemerias, tomatoes, and cucumbers while also fortifying its rose growing.

Known primarily as a rose grower since its founding in 1986, Rose Drummond began moving into vegetable crops about a decade ago. In 2020, new owner Groupe Soucy decided upon a wider expansion. Gerberas and alstroemerias entered the picture, and cucumbers and tomatoes became a solid part of the plan.

The broader array matched the character of Soucy, a privately held diversified company with a mix of products including rubber, iron, and vehicle parts that it sells to various sectors including defense, agricultural, industrial, and defense.

Rose Drummond, based in Drummondville some 67 miles east of Montreal, is not going all LED for now. It will install LED toplights in a roughly 1,000m² portion of the 4,175m² greenhouse space, with intentions of eventually outfitting the remainder with the LED fixtures, according to Sollum. The fittings measure about 36 in. long × 4 in. wide × 5.8 in. high. Drummond hopes to switch on the new system in August.

The LEDs replace high-pressure sodium lights above the gerberas and cucumbers. Drummond is not concerned that the cooler-running LEDs will deprive the greenhouse of what can be useful heat emitted by less efficient HPS sources. Rather, Drummond believes the energy efficiency and variable spectrum benefits of the LEDs will far outweigh any disadvantage from the heat loss. Some growers go with a mix of HPS and LED to help maintain heat.

Currently, the other crops at the Drummond greenhouse are not artificially lit, so the Sollum LEDs are their entrée to grow lights.

Continue reading.

Photo created by freepik - www.freepik.com

Source: LEDs Magazine