Tomato Experts Impressed with LED Results
Eindhoven: In the third Philips High Wire Event organized by Philips Horticulture LED lighting, a select group of 50 innovative tomato growers, owners and consultants from 9 countries participated to learn from each other. Participants visited four greenhouse growers in Finland who are using LED grow lights to improve the yields, quality and cost-efficiency of their tomato crops in this challenging northern climate.
Manager of Philips Horticulture LED lighting, Udo van Slooten says “This year we travelled to Finland with its harsh winter climate of extremely cold temperatures and short daylight periods. This climate poses extreme challenges for greenhouse operations, and we can learn a lot from the growers who are using our LED grow lights in this environment. This event presents a unique opportunity for people across the tomato community to learn more about applications in different climates and varieties.”
Participants were impressed with the quality of the installations and results being achieved in Finland. One of the participants said “This is really like the G7 for tomato growers.”
Stefan Gulin from the Gulin Oy Ab nursery grows Encore tomatoes and increased his yields by 20% in an LED interlighting trial. That’s when he decided to expand the LED area to an entire climate area using a combination of HPS and two lines of LED interlighting.
The tour also stopped at the Stig-Erik Vikars nursery, which is using a combination of HPS and LED interlighting to improve the quality and yields of its Encore tomatoes.
At the nursery of Johan Lassander Oy Ab, another example of the HPS and LED interlighting combination was also shown. With this installation they have achieved year-round tomatoes for the Sassari cherry tomato variety.
