News
Leading Rose Grower Ascania-Flora Company chooses Oreon
Oreon’s LED fixtures are to be installed mid-October at the Ukrainian company Ascania-Flora, the largest rose grower 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.
Lumex M.
Lumex M. consists of Alexander and his son Artem Burmistrov. This company provides advice to growers in Russia and Ukraine on how to illuminate greenhouses and also supplies fixtures. Lumex M. is an established name in the region with an extensive network, and Oreon has worked with this company since September 2019.
Developments in the Russian greenhouse horticulture sector have really progressed in recent years after the government boycotted the import of greenhouse vegetables in 2014. The country wants to be completely self-sufficient and is therefore a huge growth market.
The intensive cooperation with Alexander and Artem has made the Russian and Ukrainian markets a lot more transparent and accessible to Oreon. "These markets are very interesting; there is plenty of space, energy prices are high and people are prepared to invest in high-tech products. A market with huge potential," says Peter Barentsen, International Sales Manager of Oreon.
