Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, announced the expansion of horticultural LED lighting installations at the two leading companies in cut rose cultivation, Porta Nova in the Netherlands and Scheers Rose Nursery in Belgium. Shortly after piloting hybrid LED and high-pressure sodium (HPS) grow light installations, both growers have decided to expand their LED investment following yields increasing by up to 50%.

Full LED rose cultivation predicted within five years

Wim Steeghs, horticultural lighting key account manager and rose specialist at Philips Lighting, said, “LED technology is now mature, energy efficient and precise enough to be applied in rose cultivation. Growers are starting with hybrid installations, and we think that in five years most rose growers will have a hybrid or full LED installation because of the benefits it offers in improving crops and lowering operational expenses.”

White roses growing under Philips Lighting LED grow lights. (All photos courtesy of Philips)

Scheers Rose Nursery gets 50% more light without increasing energy costs 

Scheers Rose Nursery in Kontich, Belgium, grows a variety of large-flower roses in 3.5 hectares of greenhouses. It trialed several varieties of roses in a hybrid system with 70% Philips GreenPower LED toplighting modules and 30% HPS modules over about 1.5 hectares. Its aim was to increase light levels without increasing energy usage. 

Owner, Wim Scheers said, “Our yields have increased by 30%-50% in the hybrid set-up. We can now light our plants for extended periods of time without raising the crop temperature while retaining increased amounts of CO2.  This helps boost the growth of our crops. Furthermore, we have seen a clear improvement in the quality of our roses with longer stems, bigger flowers and higher yields. After just half a season, we saw that Philips horticultural LED lighting is the best option for growing roses, so we’re expanding our LED lighting installation by 60% from 1.5 hectares to 2.5 hectares.” 

A man carrying roses cultivated using LED grow lights.

Porta Nova reports improved quality, climate control and substantial energy savings 

Porta Nova, one of the world’s largest growers of Red Naomi roses, decided to create an additional 1.1 hectare greenhouse with a 50% HPS and 50% LED toplighting installation after successful trials.

“Philips horticultural LED lighting will provide us with more flexibility and more light in the spring, summer and autumn seasons” said Leon Dukker, general manager at Porta Nova. “Further, we expect to grow bigger flowers and achieve more uniform quality across the crop in the hybrid set-up. We can slow the flowering and get a better crop temperature thanks to better climate control while securing substantial energy savings. Our goal with the hybrid LED installation is to use precise climate control to further improve the consistency, flowering and shelf life of our crops to produce an even better product for our customers.” 

In 2015, Porta Nova conducted a cut rose trial over 1,300 square meters, comparing a hybrid system comprising HPS and Philips GreenPower LED toplighting to an HPS-only installation with the aim of increasing light levels without increasing heat. Increasing light levels with HPS lighting causes high temperatures in the greenhouse outside of the winter months. 

A blooming rose in a greenhouse lit with Philips LED grow lights.