Tag: Young Plant Production

Horticultural LED Grow Lights – Grower Looks to Increase Efficiency with LEDs

Filip Edstrom at Green Masters Inc. is seeking to quantify the advantages of switching from fluorescent to Horticultural LED Grow Lights in his company’s growth chamber.

By David Kuack

Filip Edstrom has seen the writing on the wall and it says “LEDs”. Edstrom, vice president at Green Masters Inc. in Apopka, Fla., said LED lights are where flat screen TVs and laptop computers were five to six years ago.
“If you look at what the cost of flat screens TVs and laptop computers are now compared to a few years ago. It’s just a matter of time for the volume of LEDs to go up and the cost to come down,” Edstrom said. “LEDs are the next wave in lights. This is something that has been going on in Europe and we are just starting to trial the lights.”

Cyclamen being grown under LEDs in a Germination Chamber

Why LEDs?
Green Masters, which is a flowering pot plant producer, operates a 1,000-square- foot growth chamber equipped with 480 4-foot fluorescent light fixtures. The chamber is air conditioned so that it can be used for seed germination and growing on some crops including cyclamen.
Edstrom considered LEDs because he was looking for lamps that were more energy efficient and generated less heat than the fluorescent lamps.
 “The cyclamen plugs can’t be grown outside during the summer. We have to grow them inside where it is cool,” Edstrom said.  “With nearly 500 fluorescent fixtures there is a considerable amount of heat generated,” he said. “Because it is an air conditioned room, the heat factor plays a big factor in how much air conditioning is needed and how much electricity is used. Energy savings is the primary reason for looking at the LEDs.”

No wasted energy
Working with Hort Americas, Edstrom has set up a trial to compare electricity usage and plant growth under the LEDs and fluorescent lamps.
“We are using the Philips GreenPower LED production module,” he said. The modules provide the dark red and blue wavelengths that the plants use so that we are not wasting energy on light the plants don’t use,” he said. “What we have been told is that by using these certain wavelengths the plants will actually be more compact so that there will be less need for growth regulators. Also by only putting on the light that the plants need we are being better stewards of the environment because we are not wasting energy.”
Edstrom is currently running a trial using one of the benches in the growth chamber that is equipped with the LED modules.
“The fluorescents were state of the art when we installed them in June 2000. There is really nothing in regards to fluorescent fixtures that is more efficient.”
Edstrom said replacing the 4-foot fluorescent lamp fixtures with the 120-centimeter LED modules has been very simple.
“We take out the 4-foot fluorescent fixture and mount the LED module and we’re good to go,” he said. “We didn’t have to make any changes to the height of the shelving. Take the fluorescent fixture out and put the LED module in. It’s that simple.”

Side by side comparison with traditional lighting and LED grow lights

Quantifying the benefits
Edstrom said the feedback on the performance of the LEDs from the grower who oversees the growth chamber has been positive.
“The grower has said the crops under the LEDs are growing just as well, probably a little bit better,” Edstrom said. “The plants that are under the LEDs seem to be a little more compact. The plants once they are out of the growth chamber and transplanted, they are performing just as well or a little bit better. The question is the payback there?”
Edstrom said that during the summer there is not a lot of production occurring in the 8 acres of greenhouses and shade houses. The company produces about 45 different crops, including annuals, perennials and herbs.
“We are trying to determine is there a crop or certain crops that benefit being under the LEDs,” he said. “We are also trying to determine is there a difference between each of the colors or varieties.”
Edstrom said initial light measurements have shown that the LEDs are delivering 5-10 percent more light vs. the fluorescents.
“Also, if we can shave off a week’s crop time in the chamber that is worth something,” he said. “Or if we can produce more compact plants without having to apply a PGR, that’s worth a lot.
“I can determine how much electricity I’m using and how much electricity I’m saving with that fixture. The variable that we don’t know yet and why we are doing this trial is if we can improve plant quality and reduce the crop time in the growth chamber. If we find that certain crops do better under the LEDs, those plants will go under the LEDS. For the others where there isn’t a big difference, those we’ll keep under fluorescent lamps.”
Edstrom said the initial cost of the LED lamps has come down and as the price continues to drop it will make financial sense to replace the old fluorescent fixtures.
“If we were building a brand new growth room today and we had to buy the bulbs and fixtures, we would choose the LEDs even though there is higher investment cost,” he said. “The payback would be much quicker.”

Gerberas being grown under Horticultural LED Grow Lights

For more: Green Masters Inc., (407) 889-2416; www.greenmastersinc.com. Hort Americas, www.hortamericas.com; infohortamericas@gmail.com.
David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas, dkuack@gmail.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Cutting Propagation in a Snap!

Ecke Ranch has developed a packaging system for shipping
offshore callus cuttings that can help growers lower input costs and reduce
production time by two weeks.
By David Kuack
Ecke Ranch offsite manager Jon-Paul Williams said the
biggest change that had occurred in the propagation of vegetative cuttings over
the last 25-30 years was when companies supplying domestic growers moved to
offshore production.
“The process of propagating those cuttings really hasn’t
changed,” Williams said. “There have been other advances in propagation
programs such as tissue culture, but in terms of how the cuttings are handled
very few changes have occurred.”
Once Ecke, which is headquartered in Encinitas, Calif.,
began to do offshore propagation, chief operating officer Steve Rinehart began
to ask what the company could do differently in regards to handling vegetative
cuttings.
“Steve had this vision of growers being able to receive
cuttings that were pre-stuck, that could be placed on the bench to root and
have the same results if they stuck the cuttings themselves without having the
labor costs and production input costs,” Williams said. “We have been working
with a company for about eight years to develop different kinds of packing
materials that could be used with offshore cuttings. Two years ago we
introduced the Ecke SNAP System™ (http://www.ecke.com/ecke/?page_id=1042) that
consists of a packing material for offshore callus cuttings that acts as a
rooting medium once the cuttings arrive here in the United States.”
Easy to root
Williams said that when Ecke began working on the SNAP
System the company started by trying to merge packing foam with a growing
medium.
“The company we worked with was familiar with plants,” he
said. “We worked with a number of different iterations of this product to get
to a material that we were satisfied with. The most important factor was once
the cuttings arrived on shore we wanted them to root well. The Ecke SNAP System
provides a really good environment for root development. There is a lot of
porosity, good water-holding capacity, but also good aeration.”
Clean callus
cuttings
Ecke has propagation facilities in Guatemala and Mexico.
Geraniums, poinsettias and spring annuals are stuck in a different medium prior
to being packed in the Ecke SNAP System.
“Cuttings are not callused in the SNAP packing material,”
Williams said. “Each variety has a different callusing time, usually anywhere
from 10 days to two weeks. Once the callus is established the cuttings are
removed from the medium and placed in the SNAP packing material.”
Williams said there are a couple of reasons the cuttings
are callused in a different medium.
“We want to ensure the cuttings do not root in the
packing material offshore,” he said. “We want to make sure we always comply
with all USDA requirements.”
Another reason for callusing the cuttings in a different
medium is to keep them clean.
“We don’t want algae or other organic matter in the
packing material or callus protector as we call it,” Williams said. “We want
the cuttings and packing material to be as clean as possible.”
Advantages of the SNAP
System
Williams said that like unrooted cuttings processing the
callus cuttings offshore is a quick process. For most customers there is
usually a 36-hour turnover. When a SNAP System order arrives at a customer’s
facility, they receive three strips of 26 cuttings in a tray that holds 78
cuttings.
“The advantages for the customer is that we have put the
first two weeks of production on in Guatemala or Mexico,” Williams said. “The
most challenging part of propagation for many growers is the first two weeks
typically for most crops. During this time they require the most heat, the most
intensive care. With the SNAP System that part is done offshore. Growers save
two weeks of propagation and the inputs that they would require during those
two weeks.”
When the cuttings arrive they are already in a pre-stuck
tray.
“It’s not a medium, it’s a packing material that doubles
as a medium,” Williams said. “When the cuttings arrive growers don’t need to
buy a tray or a rooting medium so they are saving on their inputs.”
Another advantage is the reduction in labor costs
involved with sticking cuttings.
“A typical grower sticks about 1,000 cuttings an hour,”
he said. “Depending on the variety it could be more or it could be less. So the
grower doesn’t have to pay someone to stick the cuttings. This helps to reduce
shrink losses on the bench.
“The advantage with the SNAP system is a grower is
handling 26 cuttings at a time. If a grower using the SNAP system can handle
500 trays in one hour that results in 13,000 cuttings being stuck in an hour
instead of 1,000 unrooted cuttings. That is a significant reduction in the
labor demand.”
Another advantage to the SNAP System is that all of the
grading has been done offshore eliminating the need for growers to grade the
cuttings once they arrive.
“They also don’t have to worry about inconsistent
callusing because that is done offshore,” Williams said. “The cuttings can be
planted, placed in the greenhouse, and then they move right into the next two
weeks of rooting. Typically during the two weeks that the callused cuttings are
rooting there is usually less heat needed, less risk and less labor during the
final rooting stage. We are trying to eliminate as many of the variables as
possible.”
Overcoming
propagation deficiencies
Williams said for those growers who may not have all the
right conditions for handling callus cuttings, the SNAP System may be a little
more forgiving.
“For growers who are doing direct stick the SNAP System
may work very well because sometimes growers have a tendency to over saturate
the medium.” Williams said. “This commonly occurs with poinsettias because
growers are sticking cuttings during the hottest time of the year. The SNAP
System can provide a little more flexibility preventing the area around the
base of the stem from becoming oversaturated. Also, growers who are doing
direct stick with poinsettias can’t afford to fail because they are typically
on a tight schedule.”
Other growers have found the callused cuttings in the
SNAP System to be a better alternative to rooted cuttings.
“We have customers in the Southwest who do a lot of
production in the summer, items like geraniums that require propagation during
a period when the outside temperature is 100°F and very low humidity,” Williams
said. “Unrooted cuttings struggle in this type of environment.”
Williams said growers in the Southeast have a similar
concern.
“We have customers who have issues producing geraniums
because of the high humidity levels during the summer that are needed for fall
orders,” he said. “They have found that the SNAP System is a very flexible
system for them.”
Williams said that other plant species that are
challenging to root any time of the year are easier to callus offshore.
“Some of the aromatic crops like agastache, lavender and
rosemary, these plants can have issues sticking them as unrooted cuttings,” he
said. “We can harvest the cuttings and stick them offshore and once they are
callused they don’t have that same sensitivity to shipping. The SNAP System is
also enabling us to look at some crops that in the past were difficult to root
or ship. With the SNAP System we can look at those crops again because this system
may eliminate some of those issues and allow us to add them to our offerings.
For more: Ecke
Ranch, (760) 753-1134; www.ecke.com.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas, dkuack@gmail.com.Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

LED Horticultural Grow Lights Make Propagation Easier and Faster

Rooting cuttings in separate propagation room cuts a week off of production schedule
by David Kuack and Jean-Marc Versolato
Minnesota in the winter
is not the ideal place to try to propagate woody ornamental cuttings. Cold
temperatures and low light conditions make rooting cuttings a real challenge. So
when Jean-Marc Versolato at Bailey Nurseries in St.
Paul, began reading about how European growers were
using LED lights to root cuttings it piqued his interest.
Versolato,
who is the company’s IPM manager for the greenhouses, worked with Philips Horticultural
Lighting and Hort Americas to design a separate propagation room not in the
greenhouses to trial the LED lights.
“I
felt that the LED lights were going to be the next improvement in growing,”
Versolato said. “We started in February 2011 and ran a variety of crops under
the lights. We used three Cannon carts tied together side-by-side to form one
large shelf that can hold up to 15 trays. The trial was conducted in a corner
of our germination room.”
Versolato
said the germination room was the perfect location for the trial. Located
inside a production building, the room provides a constant 70°F and is equipped
with fogging nozzles in the ceiling. The trial propagation area was partitioned
with black plastic to avoid light contamination from the room’s fluorescent
lights.
The
cuttings only received red and blue light from Philips GreenPower LED production modules. The 5-foot modules, which matched the size of the carts, were
located about 16 inches away from the cuttings.
Cuttings
were taken from a variety of plants in the greenhouses, including Spirea, Celastrus,
Physocarpus and Hydrangea. The cuttings were sprayed with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to help initiate rooting. The
cuttings were stuck in 38-cell plastic trays (standard 11- x 21-inch)
containing Preforma rooting plugs. The cart shelves held five flats of each
genus for a total of 15 flats.
The
fogging nozzles filled the entire room with fog. There cuttings received no direct
water misting or spraying.
“By
using the fog we eliminated droplets from forming on the foliage, which greatly
reduced the chance for Botrytis and loss of cuttings,” Versolato said. “Gravity
caused the fog to descend on the cuttings and the fog kept the cuttings turgid.
“The
LED lights generate heat, but nothing like other lights available for growing.
For this reason the Preforma plugs remained moist and we didn’t need to apply
any additional water.”
The
cuttings rooted in three to four weeks. Versolato said in the greenhouses the
cuttings root in four to five weeks and occasionally take longer for some
species.
Crops on Cannon carts under fog and Philips LED Grow Lights
Trialing other
crops
After
the initial propagation trial proved successful, Versolato was looking to try
additional crops. During the summer the company purchased tissue-cultured lilac
micro-cuttings.
“We
rooted three flats of micro-cuttings under the LED lights in three weeks,” Versolato
said. “They required very little grower care whatsoever. The environment in the
propagation chamber was controlled by the LED lights and the fogging nozzles. Also,
no fungicide spray applications were made.”
Versolato
said winter cutting propagation in the greenhouse can be difficult to manage
because of low light levels, the temperature and the humidity. Based on the
successful results of the lilac trial, Versolato said the company plans to root
25 percent of its French lilacs (Syringa
vulagris) cuttings in the propagation room.
“In
January and February we will begin to root the micro-cuttings lilacs in the
room,” he said. “We are probably going to root six to seven varieties, putting
a sample of each one of them under the LED lights to see how they perform.
We’re going to do six carts with three shelves each. Each shelf holds five
trays, for a total of 90 flats under the LED lights. This trial will be our
first multi-layer production attempt.”
Although
pleased with the rooting results under LED lights that he has gotten so far,
Versolato said he thinks there are other factors that are instrumental in the
cuttings rooting faster.
“The
cuttings are being rooted in the Preforma plugs instead of greenhouse growing
media,” he said. “The chamber also has very good temperature and humidity
control. All of these factors put together help to shave seven days off of the
rooting schedule.”
Expanding
propagation
Versolato
said the propagation room will be used for hard to root crops. The room can
hold 40-50 carts.
“We
are not going to be wasting space in the trial area for crops that are easy to
root in the greenhouses,” he said. “We are looking at a list of a dozen
varieties/species that we would root in the room knowing that they are
difficult to root in the greenhouses. Some of the plants that will be trialed
include Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’ Tiger Eyes, Amelanchier and Betula.”
For
the lilac trial, 15 flats of cuttings were lit by five modules of LED lights.
“We
wanted to be sure that we had enough light for all of the flats,” Versolato
said. “For this coming year the lights are not going to be directly above the
plants or mounted on the carts. We want to be able to move the carts in and out
of the propagation room.”
The
lights will be mounted on a bracket shelving system and located about 16 inches
above and to the side of the cuttings. Versolato said this will make switching and
handling carts a lot faster and easier.
The right recipe
Versolato
said the red and blue LED lights come in different recipes depending on what a
grower wants the plants to do, whether it’s develop roots, hasten flower initiation
or speed up time to flower.
“The
recipe that we are using is generic and works with just about any plant we are
trying to propagate,” he said. “It would be too difficult to have a different
recipe for every genus and species that we are growing.”
Versolato
said Philips can provide growers with the information to tweak the light
wavelength recipe to increase or decrease the amount of red light or blue
light.
“For
Dutch growers, who may be producing acres of Anthurium or another mono crop, it
is easy for them to have a specific light recipe for that one crop,” he said. “But
in our situation where we have many different crops, it would take a lot to
come up with a different recipe for each one of them.”
Finished crop on Cannon carts (multilayer production)
under LED grow lights
Finishing plants
Versolato
is also planning to do another trial finishing plants in the greenhouse under
LED lights.
“Philips
has different types of LED lights,” he said. “In addition to the light modules
we used for propagation, Philips also has flowering light bulbs that can be
screwed into regular light fixtures. One helps to promote flowering.
Versolato
is planning to do a small trial with the flowering LED lights to see if they
help with flower bud initiation on impatiens during early season crop
production. He said the first impatiens crop is grown during the short dark
days of the year and the plants are very slow to develop buds.
Even
though the first crop is currently grown under high intensity discharge lights,
Versolato wants to see what impact the addition of LED lights will have on the plants.
“We
want to try some LED bulbs mixed in with the HID to see if they help to improve
bud count,” he said. “The crop would be put out in the greenhouses around Feb.
23. The light level in the greenhouses in Minnesota during February is very low. We’re
planning to trial about three benches with the LED lights.”
For more: Bailey
Nurseries Inc., www.baileynurseries.com. Hort Americas,
www.hortamericas.com. Philips
Horticultural Lighting, www.philips.com/horti
David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com. Jean-Marc Versolato is IPM manager, Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minn.
Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com