Nursery A. Bakker & Zn. BV from Heerhugowaard is the first lily grower to use LED grow light from Signify in its greenhouses. The company has switched to Philips GreenPower LED toplighting to improve flower quality and increase production efficiency.
Nursery Bakker has branches in the Netherlands, France, and New Zealand. The company specializes in bulbs and flower cultivation. 3.5 Hectares of the flowers are grown in a greenhouse for a global customer portfolio. Cultivation under LED-lighting is currently done on an area of 1.6 hectares.
Kwekerij Bakker takes care of the virus-free propagation up to the flower cultivation in-house. Flower cultivation takes place in four phases because cultivation takes place on rolling tables. In the initial stage only LED lighting is used. In stages, two and three LED and HPS lighting are combined, and in the last stage only HPS light is used. The results are promising, according to Marco van Uden, Managing Director. “This is demonstrated by the firmness, the size of the bud, length of the stem, number of buds, and leaf color.”
Bakker nursery is always looking for ways to increase sustainability. Managing Director added: “We want to make better use of our hectarage and reduce the cost price. We saw in other flowers such as lisianthus and chrysanthemums that production increases with a higher light level under LED grow lights. That was the decisive factor for us to switch to LED toplighting.”
Marco van Uden: “We are always looking for the ideal balance. This also applies to our energy consumption. The energy surplus we have in the fall can now be compensated by using LED lighting, while we can use LED grow lights much more precisely. After the winter we can review the optimum energy use and see if the share of A2 flowers has decreased. This is an exciting moment that we look forward to with confidence.”
Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture LED Solutions, Signify, said: “We are delighted to see that next to cultivating roses, chrysanthemums, alstroemeria, and lisianthus, lily growing also has confidence in the added value of Signify’s LED grow lights.”
