Signify reported that two French vegetable growers have installed its LED horticulture lighting for their greenhouses to grow cucumbers year-round.

Jardins Réunis and Cheminant have both installed Philips GreenPower LED toplighting and Philips GreenPower LED interlighting in their new cucumber greenhouses in the Nantes region of France. The growers are the first to grow high-wire cucumbers with LED lighting in the country, showing their leadership as members of the Océane grower cooperative.

(Image: Signify)

Signify noted that LED lighting does not only help to boost crop production, it also enables growers to control light and temperature more precisely as LEDs do not generate too much heat when light level increased. This feature guarantees high-quality production as efficiently as possible throughout the year.

“LEDs give a better heat-light balance, generating a significant increase in production without the heat that you would get with HPS lighting,” explains Antoine Cheminant, co-owner of Cheminant. “As per Signify’s calculations, we’re aiming for 30% more production in our 20,000 m² semi-closed lit greenhouse compared to a traditional non-lit greenhouse.”

“Signify has worldwide experience in growing high-wire cucumbers under LED lighting, so they can provide us with good advice and support from their plant specialists,” says Vincent Olivon, co-owner of Jardins Réunis. “LED lighting will help us to improve energy efficiency and to reduce gaps in production, especially in the more profitable winter period. This is critical in sustaining our position in the market year-round.”

Like Cheminant, Jardins Réunis installed their lighting in a newly built semi-closed greenhouse. The 25,000 m² greenhouse will use LED toplighting (145 µmol/s/m2) and LED interlighting (67 µmol/s/m2). Installations for both greenhouses were carried out by the French certified Philips Horti LED Partner Eiffage Énergie Systèmes in November 2018. This is the first growing season for both companies to make use of the system.