Alstroemerias do like light. “By using ReduFuse you remove the sharpness while minimising the light loss,” says Maurice Olsthoorn of Together2Grow.
Grower group Together2Grow consists of two companies that work very closely together: Van Veen Alstroemeria of Schipluiden and BZ Alstroemeria of Poeldijk in the Netherlands. They cultivate special varieties that have been awarded prizes on several occasions. This year for example they won the Glazen Tulp, last year the Dutch Flower Awards. They are beautiful clear varieties that look quite vulnerable. But actually this is not a problem, stresses Olsthoorn. “It is a light loving plant which is why we don’t want to lose any light with a coating. Alstroemeria has difficulty creating its own climate because the crop transpires moderately. It very quickly closes its stomata. If you can postpone that then you have some extra gain.”
Screens
When the radiation is high the leaves at the top can burn. That doesn’t happen very quickly but as a grower you don’t want that to happen at all. Therefore in the past they used to close screens. “But due to the heat we could never close the screen completely. You always had about 30% of unscreened strips where you did see some damage.”
The introduction of ReduFuse therefore came just at the right time. Together2Grow has been using it for four years at both locations. In order to lose as little light as possible a thin layer is applied around 1 April. It is removed again in August depending on the long-term weather forecast. In addition to the light coating, screens are still needed occasionally when the radiation is very high. “Due to the diffused light you don’t get the sharp separation between the light and dark bands,” says the grower. “The light distribution is also better even under the screen. You don’t see any difference in the crop size.”
Gains on all fronts
Due to the diffused light distribution created by ReduFuse, the light penetrates deeper into the crop. The top receives a little less light; the lower areas receive a little more. In this way the top isn’t stressed and can continue to assimilate while the lower areas assimilate more due to the greater amount of light. So there is a gain on all fronts. “Quality is simply better,” says Olsthoorn. “In addition you can close the vents on the wind side so that you keep more CO2 and moisture inside. That is of course good for growth in general. That is particularly relevant in Schipluiden, where it is just a little more difficult to cultivate than in Poeldijk”.
When ReduFuse was launched in the market they did a trial to compare it with ReduHeat. “We found that we lost too much light under ReduHeat. We are now satisfied and there’s no reason to approach it differently. In addition, it’s a nice bonus that it’s much more pleasant to work under a diffused coating.”
For more information
Mardenkro
Email: info@mardenkro.com
www.mardenkro.com


Announcements
Job Offers
- Business Development Manager
- Agronomist
- Breeding Trial Specialist
- Farm Manager Abu ADhabi
- Key Account Manager Canada and USA
- Export Sales Manager Europe Division
- Directors - New Zealand
- Nursery Production Manager Victoria Australia
- Technical Sales Consultant, Washington
- Export Sales Manager North America Exports
"Tweeting Growers"
Top 5 -yesterday
- US: "Mother's Day rocked at supermarkets, but potted plants did not perform well"
- US: Byfield greenhouse, scene of a fatal accident, will reopen on Saturday
- Prepping up for the future: challenges now and then
- Court rejects California's blanket approval of pesticide spraying
- Avianca Cargo will bring additional freighters to expand its fleet capacity by up to 70%
Top 5 -last week
Top 5 -last month
- Esmeralda Farms acquires Sande Flowers
- OptiBoost sees commercial breakthrough in retail, taking technology worldwide
- Colombia: "The main challenge this year is to meet the demand"
- China: New pot flower production greenhouse complex blooming in Jinan
- “The unusual flower color is the obvious attraction”
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2022-05-27 Making LEDs and lower energy costs accessible to HPS-growers
- 2022-05-26 Experimental study reveals impact of light spectrum on plant growth
- 2022-05-23 “Recycling of nutrient solutions leads to important savings”
- 2022-05-23 24/7 virtual scouts equipped with computer vision to identify pathogens and pests
- 2022-05-20 Coating with a helicopter
- 2022-05-19 Water treatment with nanobubbles leads to decreased losses in gerbera cultivation
- 2022-05-17 OptiBoost sees commercial breakthrough in retail, taking technology worldwide
- 2022-05-05 Improving growers' understanding of their irrigation water
- 2022-05-04 Ultrafiltration for closed cultivation, but what is ultrafiltration anyway?
- 2022-04-29 "I am convinced we all have to go in this direction in horticulture”
- 2022-04-27 "We use less heating compared to the HPS side of the greenhouse"
- 2022-04-26 "Investment in autonomous drones contributes to the digitization of greenhouses"
- 2022-04-21 SunPlus horticulture portfolio grows with the addition of deep-red
- 2022-04-21 "Chinese horticulture much more than production only"
- 2022-04-19 NL: Upgraded aerial work platform can get to work again
- 2022-04-15 Floricultural wholesalers choose to rent electric tow tractors from Steenks Service
- 2022-04-11 Israel: “Woven crop protection covers ensure better weather resistance and light distribution”
- 2022-04-06 “The people here are enthusiastic and motivated, that's a very inspiring mentality"
- 2022-04-01 DesignLights Consortium seeks input on next version of horticultural lighting technical requirements
- 2022-03-31 Paper-based growing concept introduced to Benelux