LED lighting is increasingly used in floriculture and horticulture. The (future) applications and features are relatively unknown among breeders and producers so the subject got a lot of attention.
Marcel Kers of PlantLab, Meiny Prins of Priva and Gus van der Feltz of Philips Horticulture
Wim van Ieperen
Tom Dueck of Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture
The symposium included presentations from several researchers active in the Benelux. They presented the latest insights on control of plant production by LED light. Strikingly in research of LED exposure and its effects on plant growth, the tomato is targeted most often. That's because the tomato is very 'responsive'.
- The effect of far-red light on shade plants exposed to a higher dose of light increase their resistance. Ronald Pierik (Utrecht University)
- Research into LED lighting with strawberries, with the plant achieving much better growth during the cold period. Tom van Delm (PCH, Research Centre Hoogstraten)
- A spectral opportunities orchids need less back cooling with LED lighting. Tom Dueck (Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture)
- Different shades of colour are painted in azaleas by variating light quality. Ellen de Keyser (ILVO, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research)
- Tailored light quality systems give better rooting in pot chrysanthemums. Marie-Christine van Labeke (Ghent University)
- LED lighting improves the vitamin C content of tomato fruit. Nikos Ntagkas (Wageningen University)
A few nice examples of new applications are that LED light let algae bloom red, which makes shrimp and crabs obtain their color better or that polygonum (also called smartweed), produces light indigo and under LED dark indigo is what makes it interesting to cultivate. It is the blue often associated with blue jeans.
Ronald Pierik
Tom van Delm
At the same time there is still a lot unknown. "Slowly we are beginning to understand something," said Nikos Ntaga, PhD student at the university. Which light combination is ideal under specific circumstances or which frequency and duration at specific growth stages of plant species is often still difficult to determine. Moreover, the practice is more stubborn than the lab, with many external factors influencing a crop. Tom Dueck, a researcher at Wageningen, therefore believes that the focus of future research will be on intensity and quality of LED light.
Ellen de Keyser
Marie-Christine van Labeke
Nikos Ntagkas
City farming
Last but not least, there was a panel discussion with Meiny Prince of Priva, Marcel Cherry PlantLab and Gus van der Feltz from Philips Horticulture about city farming and the use of LEDs. There appeared to be a benign consensus: all three believe in a future with high-tech cultivation in densely populated areas. Difficulties we have to face, are in the field of (cheap) energy, fresh water supply and logistical connections.
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