Plant Empowerment workshop during GreenTech Amsterdam

Added on 11 May 2023

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Amsterdam - This June, the Plant Empowerment Foundation will again organize two free live breakfast sessions during GreenTech in Amsterdam. The workshops take place on Wednesday June 14th at Strand Zuid, next to the RAI Amsterdam. Growers and other horticultural professionals are welcome to participate in either of these two workshops, which will focus on water balance and plant health. During this sessions, twelve specialized trainers and consultants of the Implementation Partners of Plant Empowerment will share their knowledge, each with their own specialization.

Plant empowerment

Every year, Plant Empowerment invites growers from around the world to learn more about their unique cultivation philosophy during the GreenTech exhibition, which takes place in Amsterdam. This data-driven philosophy helps growers worldwide to cultivate more sustainably and profitably. The focus is on improving crop production and quality while making more efficient use of valuable resources such as water, energy, and nutrients.

Training set-up and program

This year’s workshop takes place on Wednesday June14 ,at Strand Zuid,next to the RAI Amsterdam. The workshop contains two sessions, one with a focus on water balance, and one with a focus on plant health. The first session starts at 7.30 am, the second session starts at 10.00 am.

Session 1 - Water, the sustainable growing factor

This knowledge session is about water, one of the important growth factors of plants. First, the experts will discuss water in general. What is good water? What properties are important and how can we measure it?

Furthermore, it is important to use water as efficiently as possible and to add minerals in the right form. For this, it is crucial to match the demand and composition of the water to the demand of the plant. How to do this is discussed in detail using practical examples.

In the final part of this session, the experts will discuss the extent to which artificial light influences the demand for water and minerals.

Program

7.30 – Walk-in with coffee, tea, and croissant 7.55 – Start program

8.00 – Measuring water (and nutritional) properties
by Ruud Schulte (Van der Ende Group) and Heleen Lugt (LetsGrow.com)

8.30 – Efficient nutrition and net water usage for sustainable growth
by Marc van Oers (Van Iperen International) and Paul de Koning (Hoogendoorn)

9.00 – Optimal irrigation strategy influenced by LED
by Stéphane André (Hortilux) and Thom van Wesel (Saint-Gobain Cultilene)

9.30 – End session 1

Session 2 - Plant health, the basis for optimal growth

Plant health is a topic that is receiving increasing attention, also within the Plant Empowerment foundation. Plant health can be related to almost all topics of cultivation. In this session, we will first discuss the role genetics play in relation to plant health. For mineral uptake, for example, genetics is a crucial factor. These minerals then help determine how healthy a plant is.

We will continue with the importance of getting many plants off to an optimal start, which focuses on seed germination. The combination of genetics and substrate traits is crucial here.

Finally, we discuss how to optimize the use of natural light. Light is often the limiting growth factor, but on the other hand, too much light can cause plant stress.

Program

10.00 – Walk-in with coffee and tea 10.20 – Start program

10.25 – Breeding for less pests and optimal plant health by Elena Argyri (Rijk Zwaan) and Ellen Klein (Koppert)

10.55 – Creating an optimal start with germination and rooting
by Richard Bremmer (Kekkilä – BVB) and Jochim Reybrouck (BASF Vegetable Seeds)

11.25 – Bring balance in natural light
Bart Bakker (Svensson) and Paul van Gils (Lumiforte)

12.00 – End