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FloralDaily: Ukrainian rose grower takes another step with choice for LED
Oreon’s LED fixtures are to be installed mid-October at the Ukrainian company Ascania-Flora, one of the largest rose growers in the country. Some 220,000 roses are grown here every day (of which 95% for the domestic market), but the company wants more. Ascania wants to grow and innovate and has chosen Oreon’s LED fixtures for this very reason.
Ascania has 550 employees and around a thousand partners in all regions of Ukraine and its strategy is clear. It wants more production and wants to manage it better. Moreover, it wants to be a forerunner: LED lighting above roses is a growth market and has enormous potential. The step taken towards the LED market by a major player like Ascania-Flora is a very important one: science is at an advanced stage and tests show that LED grow lights above roses are particularly promising, but so far not many growers have taken the plunge. Ascania-Flora intends to show that potential in practice.
Lumex M. has had a good relationship with Ascania for many years and was already a supplier of traditional HPS lighting. Because Ascania also wants to innovate and lead the way, Lumex M. proposed the use of LED lighting. Ascania did not make a hasty decision: in the past 14 months Oreon employees visited the greenhouse in Kiev and Ascania employees came to the Netherlands to visit various growers.
Innovative
Ascania-Flora has invested extensively in recent years to improve the quality of its crops. This can be seen, for example, in the light levels which are being used: these used to be 105-157 µMol/s, but have now increased to 157-210 µMol/s. A rose needs a lot of light to reach maturity.
The greenhouse climate has also improved. Investments have been made in humidity control and screens. A ‘Fog’ system is used so that plants are not watered but misted. The step towards Oreon fits perfectly with this system because Oreon’s LED grow lights operate on unique water-cooling technology. As a result, part of the recovered heat can be converted into reusable energy. Energy – mainly electricity – is a high cost item in Ukraine, which was also an important reason to switch to Oreon. With the right spectrum, the roses can be illuminated even more efficiently without incurring additional energy costs.
