Philips Lighting unveiled its new Philips GreenPower LED toplighting with a light spectrum optimized for cut rose cultivation at an event of the Philips Rose Expertise Group. The new GreenPower LED toplighting with cut rose spectrum allows growers to increase light levels year-round without increasing heat. During extensive trials undertaken by research institutes Delphy and Wageningen University, and monitored by experienced rose growers, the new lighting with cut rose spectrum improves the quality of the roses and is 40% more energy efficient compared to high-pressure sodium (HPS) lighting.

(Image: Philips Lighting)

“Since we first introduced LED toplighting in 2015, we have been working intensively with a group of about 30 rose growing companies, consultants, universities, research institutes and representatives from the Dutch government, active in developing the rose sector, to further refine our light recipes for rose cultivation,” said Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Philips Lighting. “The feedback from this network helped us improve the quality and quantity of roses grown under LED lighting.”

The LED challenge for rose cultivation

 “A selection of rose growers use GreenPower LED toplighting for cultivation of cut roses, with LED they can reach higher light levels for their crop,” Van Slooten explained. “This resulted in higher yields, but did not produce the quality improvements that cut rose growers had hoped for with LED. During the year, cut roses require up to 20 hours of lighting per day on average, making it extremely important to find a light spectrum which improves both quality and yield.”

“The rose branches under the new spectrum are longer, heavier and have bigger buds,” Marc Koene, owner of SK Roses in the Netherlands added. 

New GreenPower LED toplighting with rose light recipe

The new LED rose light recipe allows growers to increase the number of lighting hours, making it a highly efficient way for them to increase production and produce high quality crops due to the stabilized climate. The new LED rose light recipe is available with the newest generation of Philips GreenPower LED toplighting. These specific products offer light output levels that typically deliver 500 or 600µmol/s per module at a very high efficacy of up to 3.0 µmol/J. In the Philips GreenPower toplighting with rose spectrum, a small amount of white LEDs have been added to assist people working in the greenhouse to perform labor tasks like harvest and scouting. The module is designed to dissipate heat efficiently and guarantees a lifetime up to 35,000 hours.