Work at Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in The Netherlands, carried out with Fluence Bioengineering (a division of global lighting company Osram) and consultancy Vortus suggests that full-spectrum LED lighting could increase tomato yields by up to 10 per cent compared to traditional high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps.
The initial results of this trial show growers can cultivate tomatoes as effectively with PhysioSpec Greenhouse as you can under HPS, possibly with a better yield, and with shorter stems,” said Dr. Ep Heuvelink, an Associate Professor at WUR. “Of the tomatoes grown under PhysioSpec Greenhouse, when compared to the HPS control environment, the WUR team saw the crop developed well and fruits had similar dry matter content. In fact, fruit yield is a bit higher in the LED sections for the Tomagino cultivar, which is a welcome benefit when considering the energy reduction LEDs naturally exhibit over HPS technology.”
“This is a very exciting result for the application of full-spectrum LED technology in greenhouse tomato production. It demonstrates that even without any other environment optimization for LED solutions, LEDs can match, or even out-perform legacy lighting fixtures for commercial growers,” added Haris Ouzounis, horticulture service specialist and senior photobiologist at Fluence by OSRAM.
Photo Credit: Business Wire