Farmer has realized improved yield and biomass in an LED-lit greenhouse

An Ontario, Canada-based tomato farmer has worked with horticultural lighting in a greenhouse setting and has documented yield and biomass benefits using horticultural solid-state lighting (SSL) from Fluence Bioengineering (also referred to as Fluence by Osram), LEDS Magazine reports.

LED manufacturer Lumileds has also turned to a broad-spectrum approach in its horticultural portfolio that also includes monochromatic and phosphor-converted components.

 “We’ve been growing tomatoes for more than 20 years,” said Guido Van het Hof, president and general manager at Great Northern. “As one of the first growers in our region to illuminate crops in a commercial environment, we’ve been immersed in researching and optimizing spectral strategies for plant growth and quality. Since the onset of LED technology, I’ve been particularly curious about how broad-spectrum LEDs could affect plant development. Based on our years of research and trialing, we’ve discovered that crops grow beautifully — with higher yields and fruit weights — under broad-spectrum light.”