Hendriks Greenhouses is a class - prevail ornamental grower near Niagara Falls , Ontario . Helen and Andrew Sr . founded the farm and original glasshouse in 1953 , where they grew tomato . In 1967 , the farm began to shift its stress from vegetables towards flower . Today Hendriks Greenhouses is known in the flowered industriousness for their Indoor Gardens and kalanchoes . Their 240,000 square feet of nursery fulfill orders for up to 10,000 units each day .
To maintain their sharpness in the extremist - free-enterprise floral industry , Hendriks Greenhouses innovates constantly . When Head Grower Belal El - Hassan noticed that many of the top growers in Europe were using light-emitting diode Grow Lights , he set out to research the technology . During his enquiry , he discovered LumiGrow through Freeman Herbs , who sang the active take fixture ’s high praises . Freeman Herbs ’ Head Grower Marco de Leonardis has been using LumiGrow fixtures ’ target luminance spectrum to improve basil flavor and get more stocky potted herbs since 2016 . Belal became peculiarly excited about using spectrum to direct the physiology of his cosmetic plants .
Directing flora growing with spectrumHendriks Greenhouses installed LumiGrow LED fixtures with the LumiGrow smartPAR Wireless Control System to adjust their fixity ’ spectrum in their Research and Development bays . Alexandra Farkas , their Project Manager of Research and Development , has been carefully designing experiments to maximise get-up-and-go efficiency and use spectrum to direct suitable plant characteristics in several kalanchoe varieties .
The experiment ’s goal was to achieve a 15 - week wintertime growth round for their kalanchoe . Alexandra hypothesized that the gamey light output of LumiGrow fixture would allow them to move plant life from the long - day vegetative growth phase to the short - day flowering stage more quickly . The nimble turn time would free up more judiciary space for the next crop , increasing revenue .
Based on Freeman Herbs ’ experience , Alexandra also expected to see more consistent growth . Each of the experiment ’s three varieties experience different arise challenges during the wintertime ; ‘ African June ’ responds to gloomy faint conditions by stretching toward the wanton source , while ‘ Liva ’ respond to limited brightness level by staying short . Alexandra was affirmative that the LumiGrow LED fixture could even out their lifelike shortcomings .
Since kalanchoe are unretentive - twenty-four hours plant life , they call for a photoperiod of less than 12 hours to blossom . Alexandra worked closely with LumiGrow Research to create customs duty apparitional programme for each form of the plant ’s growing . Together they design a ‘ Rooting ’ program with a low-toned juicy - to - red ratio , a ‘ Long Day ’ programme for vegetal growth and a ‘ Short Day ’ program to promote blossom formation , each with increasing ratios of gloomy - to - ruddy light .
Deeper coloration and increase root growthAt the end of the experimentation , all of the LumiGrow - lit plants had abstruse flower and leaf coloration , as well as 20 % more root growth compared to HPS . The plant also bloomed faster under the LumiGrow fixtures .
The ‘ African June ’ grown under LumiGrow regular had 10 % more flowers and were 6.5 % more stocky than those grown under HPS .
“ ’ African June ’ is known to be a sort that stretches , ” Alexandra explained , “ [ The LED - grown plant life ] had a much more bright people of colour , with a much more unvarying and compact appearing . It was obvious just looking at the table . [ The HPS - grown plants ] were unwantedly mountainous - looking by comparison . ”
The LumiGrow - lit ‘ African June ’ also want 2 less plant outgrowth governor ( PGR ) applications . In addition to saving money by using few chemical , this saved Hendriks Greenhouses on labor . Each PGR app program pick out 15 minutes per table , and entry to the greenhouse is restricted for up to 24 hours , disrupt the greenhouse ’s day-after-day operation .
Alexandra was pleased to see that the ‘ Liva ’ kalanchoes also responded positively to being farm under LumiGrow LEDs - they were over 5 % improbable than the same plants grown under HPS . ‘ Liva ’ grow under HPS are often too short , which is unappealing to consumers .
“ During the vegetative emergence phase , all of the flora under the LumiGrow LEDs grew substantially faster , ” says Alexandra , “ They reached due date sooner and looked more uniform [ than the HPS - grown plants ] and could have been spaced earlier than the received 5 weeks . ”
Future trials and expansionWhile the HPS - grown plants caught up with their lead - grow counterparts during the last 10 calendar week of growth and finished acquire in the same amount of clip , Alexandra suspects that this was due to the length of rude daytime growing longer as the trial work up . Alexandra is excited to repeat the trial run with young varieties this wintertime and plans on starting the plants earlier so that the flowering phase coincides with the short , dark days of the year .
Alexandra also looks forrader to doing longevity trial to compare the lead - grown plants ’ ledge life compared to their HPS - grown vis-a-vis . LumiGrow Research get hold that cut flowers grown under LEDs had longer modal vase life than peak grown under HPS . Alexandra expects that potted kalanchoes will show like results .
“ We now jazz all the variables to see for and what to expect when grow with LEDs , ” order Alexandra , " We ’ve had such great effect . Belal and I adore our LumiGrow fixtures and look forward to expanding LEDs to more of the greenhouse . ”
For more information : LumiGrow800 - 514 - 0487[email protected]www.lumigrow.com
