Lantmännen SW seed improves quality of oilseed rape using Valoya LED lights
SVAVLOV, Sweden, June 10, 2013: Lantmännen SW Seed, an international seed company with its head office in Svalöv, Sweden, has been able to significantly improve the greenhouse cultivation of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) using Valoya LED lights. The light solution is a hybrid use of traditional High Pressure Sodium Lights (HPS) and LEDs together.
Oilseed rape is a very important crop and valued for its oil for food and fuel. The development of new oilseed rape varieties is driven by higher productivity demands and also by more specialized end products for example for biofuels production.
In the breeding process of new oilseed rape varieties, the young plants are cultivated, typically during the winter in greenhouses using supplementary lighting to improve or enable growth. Traditionally, HPS lamps have been used for the illumination. Plant quality has deteriorated during winter months due to the poor quality of the HPS light spectrum to plants. The poor quality of the oilseed rape plants appears as elongated hypocotyls. Elongated hypocotyls make transplantation of the plants into the field more difficult, causing damage to the plants and thus, compromising their survival through the breeding program. The plants should be compact, strong and have short hypocotyls. Plant quality can be partly improved by lowering greenhouse temperature, but this leads to a longer production time.
Lantmännen SW Seed has been working with Valoya lights both in Sweden and in Germany. The Lantmännen SW Seed team in Germany tested the effect of different light sources to improve the quality of the oilseed rape seedlings. They found that the use of Valoya LEDs together with the existing HPS lamps in the trial greenhouse improved plant quality to a level similar to the high quality of plants grown outdoors during the summer, i.e. strong, compact and with very short hypocotyls.
Light intensity is not different compared with HPS alone and when both lamps are combined, therefore the positive growth effect is due to the spectrum of the Valoya LED lights.
Improving the quality of plants, without slowing down the production time is very valuable for seed companies, as development programs for new plant varieties are costly and can take up to 10 - 12 years. Each plant in the breeding program receives significant care and analysis during this time, which leads to a high cost. Thus, a strong plant equals high survival rates and thus, protection of the investment in it.
The oilseed rape seeds were sown on December 10th, 2012 and grown until January 7th, 2013 in the greenhouse at the temperature of 10 °C. When they matured to “6 leaf stage”, they were placed into vernalization at 2-3 °C for a minimum of 6 weeks at low light intensity. The plants were then transplanted to the field in early March 2013.
Using HPS as supplementary lighting grows weak plants with too long hypocotyls (left) whereas combining Valoya LEDs with HPS improved plants significantly to compact and strong plants (right).
Nepeta grandiflora ‘Summer Magic’ reaches Chelsea shortlist
LONDON, UK, May 22, 2013: Plant breeder, Malcolm Spencer, this week came close to winning a prestigious award at the centenary Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show.
His new plant, Nepeta grandiflora Summer Magic, bred by him at his nursery in Barnham, West Sussex, England, was selected for the shortlist of new plants eligible for the Chelsea Best New Plant Award.
Summer Magic is a new variety of catmint. It was selected by Malcolm because of its long season of flower, good colour and branching as well as its remarkable ability to perform well in all weather conditions – it even thrived when flooded during the very wet summer of 2012.
“Although we didn’t win first prize, it was a great honour and achievement to reach the shortlist from so many new introductions that were considered,” said Malcolm’s son, Graham Spencer, who markets the variety worldwide through his business, Plants For Europe Ltd. “The judges recognised the qualities of Summer Magic and saw its potential as a great garden plant.”
Summer Magic was launched at the Chelsea Flower Show by Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants, a specialist perennial grower from Hampshire. Rob Hardy said “This is a great plant – next year, it will be in all the show gardens at Chelsea. It’s a really good garden performer.”
Valoya delivers LED lights to Holmen Skog’s multilayer nursery
HELSINKI, Finland, May 12, 2013: Holmen Skog installed 2100 units of Valoya Ltd’s LED lights to its fully automated tree nursery in Friggesund, Sweden. The newest part of the nursery is a multilayer growing unit with 12 layers and it sole source of light is Valoya’s LED lights.
Holmen Skog, a major Swedish forestry company, cultivates 32 million tree seedlings annually to reforest its forests. Most of its tree seedlings come from one of its two own nurseries. The nursery in Friggesund has been rebuilt to become a state-of-the-art nursery with year round growing in a multi-layer growing environment and automated transplantation and quality control as well as cold storage.
Use of artificial light is critical for the cultivation of tree seedlings. To ensure high quality plants from this process, Holmen selected Valoya’s products after a rigorous testing process of different options. Valoya’s LEDs, together with the selected substrates and growing protocols, provide high quality plants, with strong roots and full cold hardiness.
The new process enables Holmen Skog to have fully controlled growth, year-round and a 100-fold increase in productivity per area.
Roger Larm, Head of the Friggesund Nursery comments: “Our new nursery brings the nursery business and technology into the 21st century. We have worked hard to achieve the high productivity by testing different technologies, developing growth protocols and automating the process. This is a continuation of the centuries’ long tradition and know-how forestry of Holmen Skog. Valoya LED’s were the best solution here to reach our goals.”
Valoya CEO, Lars Aikala comments; “This is a very important step, not only for tree seedlings, but for horticulture in general. Holmen Skog’s new multi-layer growing facility is unique and is setting the industry standard in capacity and automation as well as illumination. We are very happy that Holmen selected our wide spectrum technology over traditional fluorescent tubes and LEDs and other conventional light sources”
Valoya is a provider of energy efficient LED grow lights for professional use. Valoya LED -lights have been developed using Valoya's proprietary LED technology and extensive plant photobiology research. Valoya's customer base includes numerous greenhouses and research institutions all over the world.
Nutrient meters now available from Spectrum Technologies
AURORA, USA, April 17, 2013: Spectrum Technologies, Inc. announces the availability of the LAQUA line of Nutrient Management meters. This new line of professional grade meters serves as a perfect complement to Spectrum’s existing wide-range of nutrient management tools. The LAQUA family of waterproof meters are accurate, simple and reliable - making them ideal for the measurement needs of growers, researchers and retailers. These meters are available for measurement of pH, Conductivity (EC), Potassium, Calcium, Sodium, and Nitrate. Susie Feeney, Sales Consultant for Horticulture at Spectrum, shares, “Feedback on the new meters from growers and researchers has been overwhelmingly positive; they are easy-to-use, accurate and built to last.”
Measuring samples of nutrient solutions, water, soil and tissue sap, has never been easier using the simple 3-step measurement process. With accuracy that is well correlated to laboratory analysis, the highly sensitive compact sensor allows for convenient and accurate measurement of samples as small as 0.3 ml. The one-touch, digital calibration feature provides hassle-free calibration to ensure consistent accuracy.
Each meter comes with a handy carrying case, including batteries and calibration standards, and all sensors are field replaceable.
Visit http://www.specmeters.com/laqua for additional information.
Spectrum Technologies, Inc. manufactures and supplies affordable weather and plant measurement technologies that help growers make better decisions on crop inputs. To receive a free catalog complete with hundreds of climate, soil, and plant health monitoring devices, contact Spectrum Technologies, Inc., 3600 Thayer Court, Aurora, IL 60504 (800) 248-8873, (815) 436-4440, fax (815) 436-4460, or at www.specmeters.com
Growth protocols for no-natural light environments
HELSINKI, Finland, April 5, 2013: Valoya Ltd. finalizes multi-year test programme with lettuce grown in no-natural light environments. The trial series verifies Valoya’s AP673 spectrum’s energy efficient performance to produce high quality plants in plant factories and other multi-layer installations without natural light. Traditional artificial light, such as High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and fluorescent (FL) tubes, has not been able to cost effectively produce high quality commercial grade lettuce and herbs without natural light. Thus, production of lettuce and herbs in no-natural light environments has not been possible on energy efficient industrial scale.
To enable scaling-up of plant factories and other multi-layer no-natural light environments, Valoya wanted to verify its light spectra in a wide range of no-natural light environments and documented growing protocols for these environments.
During 2010-2012 Valoya conducted in-depth trials with some of its key light spectra to document their suitability in multi-layer applications without natural or other light sources.
The tests verified that Valoya’s wide light spectra have outstanding performance also without the support of natural light or other light sources. The AP673 spectrum provides very good results with leafy greens and the AP67 with other plants such as tree and tomato seedlings. In previous trials Valoya has also discovered that pollinator bumble bees can navigate under Valoya’s LED lights as sole light source and without support from natural light.
Valoya’s lights showed excellent results at 100 µmol/m2/s and even in lower intensities with selected leafy greens. In terms of energy efficiency, about 80W/m2 is sufficient in static installations and even less than 40W/m2 in lines with moving gutters or moving lights.
Valoya CEO, Lars Aikala comments; “We already have several customers using our lights in no-natural light environments. The successful completion of this test program gives us detailed scientific data on the subject and enables us to better quantify the benefits. Our LED lights provide significant advantages to traditional lighting technologies and in comparison with conventional horticultural LED lights in terms of fast growth and high quality plants in all no-natural light environments.”
Valoya is a provider of energy efficient LED grow lights for professional use. Valoya LED -lights have been developed using Valoya's proprietary LED technology and extensive plant photobiology research. Valoya's customer base includes numerous greenhouses and research institutions all over the world.
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