China: 20 ha of roses flourish under diffuse glass

In a modest eight months, a complete rose facility was completed last year in the Fuhan township in Gansu province, China. Ever since roses have been harvested from the facility. Led by Linxia Yinong Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Investment Co, this greenhouse is part of the larger Flower Port initiative covering around 200,000 square meters in the Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture.

So far, the project has cultivated around 1.5 million rose seedlings, earning it the local nickname of "rose gigafactory." The facility is 16 hectares in the loess plateau of Linxia, benefiting from the region's distinctive climate with significant temperature fluctuations between morning and evening—an ideal condition for rose cultivation.

A practical feature of this greenhouse is the use of Planti mid-haze diffuse glass with double layers of AR coating. "It marks the first time AR-coated glass is employed in a scaled project in Gansu specifically designed for growing roses," says Chris Lee with Planti. "During the scheduling period, the project's consultants had been talking with us about the glass options and performances. Before this, they had been running a few smaller rose greenhouses with regular low iron glass covers. Finally, they turned to AR-coated diffuse glass and would like to compare it with old ones; the project manager said it takes at least five rotations to see the difference. It turned out to be a successful try; they stayed with diffuse glass for the other two smaller projects." This is a meaningful milestone, especially since the company plans to build more rose greenhouses in the coming years. "In the same area, and diffuse glass will be the cover material."

Aside from the advanced glass technology, the greenhouse incorporates modern agricultural systems, such as an auto-fogging system, water and nutrition recycling system, and an energy screen system inspired by Dutch design and technology. These features reflect the project's commitment to green, energy-conserving, and sustainable development principles. Thanks to state-of-the-art agricultural technologies, such as an automatic temperature and humidity control system and an integrated smart irrigation and fertilization system, the facility can produce 200,000 fresh-cut roses daily. The roses are for the domestic market and are exported to Moscow and Kazakhstan.