MechaTronix - The Next Dimension in LED Grow Lights

With its headquarter in The Netherlands, production facilities in The Netherlands and Canada, and high-end R&D hubs in New Taipei and Kaohsiung Taiwan, MechaTronix leads the world of advanced LED grow lights. As part of the 8 Lakes group with headquarter in Breda The Netherlands the company combines the high-end world of Asian technology and manufacturing with the cores and values of a West European market leader.

MechaTronix

Bredefleur'lilies flowers with MechaTronix grow light

Market Revival

The last SON-T lamps are currently being removed from Bredefleur's greenhouses in Moerkapelle and Luttelgeest, and teams are busy installing the new four-channel Mechatronix fixtures. This makes the company the first lily grower to offer a full range under LED lighting: large and small-flowered, oriental types, and double-flowered.

The majority of Bredefleur's assortment is protected in sales, for which long-term agreements have been made with breeders, bulb growers, and forcers. This way, the product enters the market in a controlled manner. "We want supply and demand to remain in balance so that the entire chain can earn a healthy income," says Peter Evers, who, together with his brothers Thomas, Levi, and Ruben, forms the management of the family business.

Current market developments confirm his vision: after two disappointing years, there is a revival in the market for the small-flowered varieties. "After Covid, flower sales in Western Europe have been more challenging, and particularly the small-flowered varieties have struggled economically."

The market for large-flowered varieties, which mainly find a market in the former Eastern Bloc, remained stable. Adjusting the assortment was considered. "But we are not ones to stop. We have long-term agreements with our suppliers and want to be a reliable partner for them as well. We have tapped into new channels for the small-flowered varieties, and we are now seeing them pick up."

LED learning curve

This entire assortment will henceforth be grown under LED lights. And although the brothers fully support the choice, the SON-T will still be missed. "You can grow lilies perfectly under LED, I'm convinced of that. But it comes with challenges."

The company has been working with LED for more than five years now, first in small-scale trials and later on a larger scale. "SON-T came closer to natural daylight in terms of light spectrum. That recipe wasn't so bad after all. With LED, it's all about efficiency, and as a result, there's little green light in it. Now the challenge lies with my brother to find the old SON-T recipe and apply more natural light."

The transition to LED brought a learning curve with it. "We've noticed that there's a higher risk of leaf burn. Lily leaves are very sensitive and can harden in the final stage of cultivation, which reduces ornamental value. If that happens, you have to pick the leaves, which brings extra labor costs. We also had to deal with this with SON-T, but with LED, you generally apply more mmol, and that seems to exacerbate the issue. You're demanding more from the plant."

Much knowledge has been gained in this area over the past years. "We also participate in collective research on LED and gain a lot of knowledge from it. It has also emerged that you can't really grow lilies well under very high micromoles. Now we have a high-efficiency lamp that delivers 130 to a maximum of 140 umol everywhere."

Cost-wise a no-brainer

Cost-wise, investing in LED is a no-brainer. "The efficiency of SON-T versus LED goes from 1.9 to 4.0, which is almost double. If you can save three tons of gas, and that's the direction it was heading with the daily price at 45 cents, then you're robbing yourself if you don't hang LED. You do miss some heat and heat radiation that you have to generate, but there's no working against this. In terms of cultivation, it's sometimes still a search, and I hear my brother grumble occasionally," he laughs. "But I handle the administration and need to keep the bank account filled."

Moreover, he is also realistic in his expectations. "We've been growing under LED for five years now. First in trials, then increasingly on a larger scale. But it took us nearly twenty years to perfect SON-T. We're learning a lot, but we're not there yet."

Blue light

The new four-channel fixture anticipates this by offering the possibility to add blue light. "We found three-channel to be fine. Now we also have blue light available. What exactly it will do for more efficient cultivation or quality, we don't know yet," admits Peter. "But the price difference was minimal, and LED research is developing rapidly. We want to capitalize on that." He compares it to an iPhone: "In recent years, not much has changed, and the functions have remained the same. That's how it is with LED in my eyes. The efficiencies are now at 4.0, and that's relatively high, although there will probably be some more to come. And it seems that four-channel is the final destination."

This is partly why the choice fell on Mechatronix again, who could deliver this lamp as early as summer. "For a good price-quality ratio," Peter adds, describing himself as a critical customer when it comes to purchasing. "When I need something, I'm in the buyer's seat, and they certainly had to do their best. Then it's nice for both sides to be able to do such an assignment." Moreover, he is pleased with the mentality of the Mechatronix team. "Especially with the supply problems in the LED sector, I choose reliability, and they have shown that. Last fall, we had trouble with the drivers, and it was resolved within three months. Then you stand your ground and show that you have a commitment to a company. That aligns with Bredefleur's DNA: if there's an issue, you solve it from A to Z."


Read More >> https://www.horti-growlight.com/en-gb/this-summer-all-of-bredefleur-is-in-full-led

CoolGrow Lineear for Multi-layer Strawberry Cultivation

Since 2019, the distinctive cultivation setup has been present in the greenhouse complex. From the road next to the complex, the brightly pink LED-lit 'stack' of strawberry gutters is clearly visible at the end of January. This winter, researchers are harvesting the Sonata variety from a crop planted in October. It is a true winter crop, following earlier trials with all conventional crops using June bearers under glass in spring, summer, autumn, winter, and autumn again with continuous cultivation. Ever bearers have not yet been tested in this system.

"Out of all the different cultivations, we've learned that a true winter crop works best under LED, due to the maximum controllability we have with LED lighting in such a cultivaton," explains Stef Laurijssen. "Certain periods are more suited for multi-layer cultivation as we are doing here. When there is a lot of natural light, we see that the lower layers perform less well, with issues like fruit deformation occurring."

Lighting

During the initial phase of the multi-layer cultivation system trial, it was quite challenging to find the appropriate LED lighting. However, the researchers have now successfully addressed this issue. The trial is now divided into two sections. One section is equipped with Luminaid fixtures, providing up to 300 micromol/(m2.s), while the other section has MechaTronix fixtures, providing up to 340 micromol/(m2.s). Both types of fixtures are dimmable.

"The spectra for both sections are almost identical," notes Stef. The Luminaid fixtures have an added far-red LED strip, whereas far-red is already included in the MechaTronix spectrum. Another difference is the beam angle. "The beam angle is larger with MechaTronix at 120 degrees. Luminaid fixtures have a beam angle of 90 degrees. The advantage of the larger beam angle is that it illuminates the fruits of the adjacent row as well, which helps with color development."

RH Remains a Challenge

By the end of January, the color development is looking good. Especially in the rows that haven't been harvested yet, there are many ripe red strawberries. Perhaps even too many, admits Stef while colleagues are busy harvesting.

As we step onto the tube rail lift and move up between the gutters, we encounter two vertical fans at the top. "An experiment," Stef explains. "We had these fans left over from another greenhouse section and wondered if they might be useful here. Unfortunately, they are not suitable, as the plants on the top row suffer too much from the air movement."

The vertical fans are used to reduce the relative humidity (RH) at the bottom of the system. A challenge in multi-layer cultivation is the increase in RH at the bottom, which can lead to fruit rot. "Last growing season, we worked with vertical fans and an air tube. We made holes in the tube at the level of the rows and tied off the bottom. You don't do this in a horizontal application, but this way we managed to create a more homogeneous climate across the different rows."

Optimal Lighting

One noticeable detail is the presence of tags with numbers hanging everywhere. The gutters have been divided into sections by the researchers, who are testing various cultivation strategies during the current winter crop. The goal? To investigate how best to achieve energy savings.

A winter crop of Sonata planted in October requires a total light sum of 1900 mol/m2. Using a lighting table, this light sum is distributed over the different stages of cultivation, up to a maximum of 18 mol per square meter per day when the plant is in full production. The researchers also consider the influx of natural light.

In the system with 4 layers, light penetration decreases rapidly. By the second layer, only 35% of the light remains. "Initially, we thought it was 50%, but we quickly discovered, after measuring, that it was even less." For the third layer, only 10% remains, and for the fourth layer, only 5%. For this reason, the researchers choose to use more light on the lower rows.

Strategies for Energy Savings

In their research on energy savings, the researchers are testing various strategies this winter as part of the Opti-Energy project (VLAIO LA-traject). During the most expensive hours for electricity, typically between 7-11 AM and 5-7 PM, part of the cultivation setup's lighting is turned off. "We are investigating how this cost-saving measure affects plant growth." Another strategy is to reduce the total light sum from the maximum of 1900 mol/m2 to 1800 or even 1600. Finally, they are also looking into reducing the number of lighting hours per day. Is it feasible to light for 14 hours instead of the usual 16 hours?

After this ongoing winter crop, the researchers will be able to share results. In the next phase of the multi-layer cultivation trial starting at the end of 2024, the researchers are considering using active dehumidification. The plan is to start a new cultivation round in an expanded setup in 2025.

Another development by that time is the creation of a section at the research center for growing strawberry starting material without daylight. "For this purpose, we will line a section of a greenhouse with sandwich panels," Stef explains.

Additionally, an expansion is underway. During our visit to the research center in Meerle, an old greenhouse had just been demolished. In its place, a new 1.4-hectare greenhouse will be built. Through co-creation sessions, the researchers are still discussing the exact design of this new greenhouse with growers and technology partners. "We hope to plant strawberries in this new greenhouse by mid-August."



Read More>>https://www.horti-growlight.com/en-gb/expansion-improvement-multi-layer-strawberry-cultivation

Instead of a classic system of light beams that radiate the plants directly, the CoolGrow® VF works with indirect and diffused lighting.  Therefore, the light photons are optimally used without any loss of light.

CoolGrow VF Indoor Grow Lighting

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Instead of a classic system of light beams that radiate the plants directly, the CoolGrow® VF works with indirect and diffused lighting. The entire growing area is equipped with a highly reflective coating, so that both the ceiling and the side walls become the plant's source of light. The light photons are thus optimally used without any loss of light.

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