Seasonality is always something that growers struggle with as greenhouses in specific regions of the world receive less natural sunlight in the winter months. This can slow down the growth rate of crop when compared to the summer months. In order to combat this change in season, Van de Pol from Ridderkerk has chosen a year round solution from Hortilux. They have implemented a grow light system that spans 9,500m2 and contains 996 HORTILED Tops.
The family owned company has been in operation for over 40 years and growing lettuce is their specialty. On average, in the summer months, lettuce needs about 35 days to grow but in the winter, it can take up to three times as long. The owner of Van de Pol, Jan-Willem van de Pol stated “We miss a lot of production during the winter months, therefore we asked Hortilux to advise us on a grow light solution to be able to grow year round. The indications are that with this new lighting solution, our production will double, so the choice was an easy one”. Hortilux took care of the entire installation of HORTILED Top making it easier on Van de Pol.
What is HORTILED Top?
HORTILED Top is the most current, efficient and effective LED fixture on the global market, boasting a 2.7µmol/Joule. The business development manger from Hortilux, Peter Hendrix, went on to talk about HORTILED Top saying “Lettuce is a crop which does not like heat radiation, which means that the crop grow more efficient if it receives more light with less heat. With HORTILED Top higher grow light intensities are possible without negative impact on crop production and plant quality, therefore ideal for the lettuce production”. As different plants are efficicenty grown in different spectrums, the HORTILED Top is available in several spectrums and can be dimmed if need be.
The next generation of LED Fixtures?
HORTILED Top, HORTILED Inter and HORTILED Multi are the three products that complete the HORTILED product line. They all carry the distinct Hortilux design, capabilities, and of course, quality we’ve come to expect from Hortilux.
HORTILED Inter is designed for high wire cultivation of greenhouse vegetables and can be placed within the crop to supplement your top lighting. The HORTILED Inter boasts is 2.63µmol/Joule and is the most efficient fixture when compared to other products on the market because it provides 10% more light per m2.
HORTILED Multi is lighting that is intended precisely for crops that grow in multiple layers, growth chambers, air-conditions containers, tissue cultivation and research situations. Efficiency levels of up to 2.5 µmol/J can be accomplished, of course, depending on the crop and light spectrum. It is deemed to be 60% more energy efficient than standard fluorescent lighting.
Hortilux is for you
Hortilux is a well-known specialist in grow light solutions that knows that grow light solutions are more than just the fixture. They are all the components working together that need to operate with ease and cohesiveness. For this reason, Hortilux takes care of all the adivising, engineering, installing, project management, hardware and maintenance. Using their knowledge, growers have been able to see their yields increase dramatically.
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Source: http://www.hortidaily.com/article/39184/NL-Lettuce-production-doubles-with-HORTILED-Top
