Football club VVV Venlo chooses the new approach in sports field lighting with the lamps from Stogger. Hi Sports provides the experience and knowledge to make the turf in the stadium stronger.

After several years of experience – and many successes – with the digital monitoring of the grass in the Johan Cruijff Arena, it is not surprising that more organizations are reaching out to the services of HI-Sports. Besides the KNVB, where HI sports has developed a grass dashboard for all premier league clubs and the Johan Cruijff Arena as a living-lab where HI-sports works on various innovations, many others regularly knock on the company’s door. One of these is Stogger, a Panningen-based engineering company with a specialization in LED lighting. The question was: can you give us specific lighting advice for optimal treatment of the turf in De Koel?

HI-Sports (an initiative of Eindhoven-based Holland Innovative) with data biologist Joep van Cranenbroek knows what to do with that kind of question. “We have known Stogger for some time now, but a while back they approached us with a specific question about the lighting of sports fields. Their technical expertise combined with our knowledge of data-driven sports field maintenance and management obviously gave enormous possibilities.”

So the follow-up question was: what does grass need in terms of lighting, and then how do you go about designing a lamp that meets those needs? After a number of sessions with all those involved, the choice fell on a modular system that could be adjusted in time (summer, winter, time of day) but also place (shady and sunny spots) according to the needs of the moment. “I see it as ‘astronaut food for the grass’: you deliver exactly what you need at the right time and in the place.”

In order to also be able to build the lamps themselves in a modular way, Stogger is working with MechaTronix. Van Cranenbroek: “The advantage is that with the same energy, the LED lights provide 90% more light than traditional SON-T lights, and they are integrable with sensors in the field, which provides huge cost savings. This means that proper turf treatment is now becoming available for a much larger group; it’s reliably and comes at a favorable price.” A system that is therefore not only for the large clubs with large budgets but also for the smaller ones that strive for the same quality sports fields with fewer resources.

All in all, De Koel stadium got a system this way that offers an ideal light distribution, with limited pressure on the field. “And all that in a look & feel that completely suits VVV Venlo,” said Van Cranenbroek. The yellow-and-black light tents do indeed appeal to the imagination, but it is not limited to the outside: “We analyzed the entire field, both on the ground and with the light, and in this way we were able to determine exactly what is needed at each spot of the grass at any time. An exposure report then helps the soccer club with the correct use of the lights.”

Energy efficiency

Several factors affect the quality of the grass: light, temperature, water, co2, and nutrients are the most important of these. “The heat generated by the LED lights is reused to increase the grass temperature and energy efficiency. The other factors are solved so that the recovery power of the grass is increased and the mat can resist another match day. In Venlo, they know all about it now.”

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"How much far-red light plants need, changes during the season and even during the day," says Koen of MechaTronix. Lighting with an adjustable partial spectrum allows for this kind of control: the standard spectrum remains the same and the intensity of red and far-red light can be adjusted. "You only have dynamically what you want to have dynamically.” We expect that all lighting will be dynamic eventually.

Dynamic lighting

Dynamic lighting is already well established in greenhouse horticulture and indoor cultivation. These are fittings where the intensity of the light can be adjusted. What is new, is lighting with dynamic spectrums, where the light recipe can be adjusted. Research centers have been working with this for some time: they can test different light recipes without having to buy new lamps every time. MechaTronix also offers lamps with these qualities (picture below).

"A dynamic fitting is good for research, but for the time being it is far too expensive for ordinary cultivation and even for vertical farming," says Koen Vangorp. “The grower would have too much of everything: too much red, too much blue, too much green. This is economically unfeasible, both in terms of investment and energy consumption.” Moreover, according to him, it is not necessary at the moment. “A fixed basic recipe is enough to get you a long way.”

Controllable partial spectrum

A controllable partial spectrum is more important for growers. This allows the intensity of a part of the spectrum to be adjusted: for example, more far-red or green, or only extra blue. "With a controllable spectrum, you only have dynamically what you want to have dynamically”, Koen explains. “Then you can give the plant what it needs.”

And what a plant needs in many cultivations is far-red light. “You get the best yield when you play with the PSS: the phytochrome balance or the amount of far-red light compared to red light. It means that in your main spectrum you do not always add far-red light, but only give it when it is necessary.”

It is knowledge that comes from nature. "Just as we imitate the shade avoidance effect from nature in order to stretch plants more with the help of far-red light, with variable light we can give signals to the plant in more ways. A good example is the end-of-the-day-treatment where extra far-red light is given and the red from your light recipe needs to go down a bit. As a result, the plant gets a signal that it is in the shade of another plant and a natural extension occurs which ensures longer internodes and an open crop.”

When?

When that extra far-red is needed, depends on the crop and even the variety. “You can even see with different varieties of basil that some varieties need it and others don't. And not during the whole season", Koen continues.

The company participates in various Belgian and Dutch studies with their dynamic LED solution Coolstack MAX to learn more about this. "With different plants, including strawberries in a multilayer cultivation, far-red light comes in handy in part of the cultivation cycle to stretch the plant."

In the cultivation of Succulent salicornia, it concerns rooting and in soft herbs sometimes germination. "In fruit vegetables, the transportation of sugars to the fruit is stimulated with far-red light. So, we know more and more about how far-red light is optimal for the plant, and with the dynamic partial spectrum we make sure that it is also available for growers.”

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'Where in recent years vertical farming enthusiasts have perhaps been mainly qualified as hipsters with a rather expensive hobby, this new branch of horticultural sport is steadily on the rise and traditional growers are also finding their way to the multi-layer installations.'

They see opportunities in using techniques from vertical cultivation, for example in propagation. “It is not just about improving the quality of the young plants, but above all about the controllability of the cultivation, and thus the speed and quality,” says Koen with Mechatronix.

What is the most expensive greenhouse there is? That would be an empty greenhouse, and that is exactly where, according to Koen van Mechatronix, opportunities lie for vertical farming. “In lettuce cultivation you see many nurseries working with fully automated cultivation systems. With mobile gutters they can use the available space in the greenhouse as efficiently as possible. However, it remains difficult to adjust the speed of the preliminary cultivation to the available space in the pond. By replacing traditional, unexposed or illuminated cultivation with a cultivation that is more controllable in a multi-layer system, you can plan much more precisely how many plants to set up. Accurate to the day, you know how many plants are ready to go in,” he says.

The lighting company developed a multi-layer cultivation system together with Meteor Systems: an automated track, including spray booms. In the past quarter, intensive testing was already carried out with a grower who works with floating gutters. “We have 120,000 cuttings up in the test setup. Multi-layered, of course, because otherwise it would be too expensive in terms of floor space. Now you can grow enough cuttings on a few square meters to fill 1/3rd of the garden,” he shows.

The controlled cultivation makes it possible to use the entire cultivation system more intensively, which shortens the payback period and the depreciation period. “You can get more heads of lettuce from your expensive greenhouse,” Koen summarizes. “In addition, you always send exactly the same quality plants to the pond, which also gives you more control over your outgrowth. If you still adhere to the correct lighting strategy, you can start making a perfect prediction on your planning. This wasn't possible before. ”

Further opportunities

In herbs there are also opportunities for hybrid cultivation, where part of the cultivation will takes in an indoor or multi-layer cultivation system and the outgrowth will take place "as usual" in the greenhouse. “In the classic, fast-growing herbs, a full indoor cultivation is soon done, but in the woody herbs it is purely the rooting that takes place in a VF installation,” says Koen. “Total cultivation is too slow for this. Your turnaround time is too long and that makes the investment per m² too expensive, but rooting often goes perfectly in a VF system.” In the same way, plant breeders use the techniques in part of the propagation, for example to improve healing after grafting, or to speed up cultivation from mother plants. "Ultimately, propagation is about the controllability of a known phase of the propagation."

All in all, this means that there appear to be more and more surprising opportunities for vertical farming, also in Europe. “The first major projects are starting to arrive, although we also see that people here are even less familiar with the possibilities and often depict it as expensive cultivation,” says Koen. “And of course an economic assessment must always be made. It will not be the case that complete crops will be placed indoors here tomorrow - there is always a reason to look at the sun. Where possible we use the sun, and where necessary the lighting. ”

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With the holidays approaching, it is also party time in the greenhouse at Van Vugt Kruiden. Yellow, purple and white pansies look as if spring has already sprung. And that is exactly what Piet van Vugt wants. "With the installation of the right LED lights, we can now supply high quality edible flowers to our customers all year round."

Small, growing market

"The pansies are still the most popular," Piet says as he walks through the colourful greenhouse in Ridderkerk. "Here are snapdragons, these are fuchsias. All edible. Begonias go there, as do carnations." Since he started growing edible flowers, almost twenty years ago now, he has gained a lot of knowledge of the product. Both of the cultivation, and of the market. "In herbs, we have always responded to the demand of the customer and in edible flowers, that is just as important," Piet says. "It is still a very small product, although the market has been growing for years."

In response to that growing demand, Van Vugt Kruiden built a full-electric new greenhouse in Ridderkerk three years ago, fully equipped for the year-round cultivation of edible flowers. "Importing product from far away always brings risks with it and a big advantage of growing locally is that we can respond directly to the market," Piet believes. "In edible flowers, we often have to deal with last-minute orders."

Within Europe, Van Vugt Kruiden handles sales itself, in cooperation with logistics partners. The Netherlands is an important market and the Germans also appreciate the flowers. Outside Europe, customers are supplied with edible flowers by exporters. They can be found as far away as Dubai.

Same product year-round

The customer's wishes were also central to the realisation of the new greenhouse. There are many different segments, so that many different flowers can be grown. In pots, gutters and in the open field. "The customer demands the same product all year round, grown as sustainably as possible. So that is what we set out to achieve," Piet tells us. That means growing without gas: the greenhouse, demo area and offices are heated by 3,500 solar panels in combination with the residual heat from the cooling cells. Double screens keep as much light and energy inside as possible, and ground and hoist heaters provide heat in the right places.

COVID, however, threw a spanner in the works: the market for edible flowers collapsed completely when the catering industry closed down. Again driven by demand, Piet decided to grow herbs in the new greenhouse. Meanwhile, the market has picked up considerably and he is gradually filling the greenhouse with edible flowers again.

Grow lights

Now an extra dimension has been added. Grow lights have been installed in the greenhouse. These make it possible to deliver the same quality all year round. "You would actually like it to be the middle of June in terms of light levels in the greenhouse. Just in terms of light levels, that is; the temperature can be a lot lower for the best flower formation." Partly due to the low energy consumption of LED lamps, the choice fell on the CoolStack® MAX lamps from Mechatronix. "Together with this supplier, the ideal light recipe was determined. This took place partly in our own research and demo room, where special luminaires with controllable spectra were used to find out what works best for the edible flowers. The LED lamps with this spectrum are now installed lattice by lattice. The amount of light and the exposure time can be adjusted."

"Apart from the fact that we can now grow flowers year-round, we also see that the quality is better," says Piet. "The growing cycle is shorter, so you harvest from younger plants. That benefits the quality of the flowers." And that is ultimately what it is all about for him. "All the technology here is in service of the plants and in service of the customer. If you deliver 100% quality every day, the customers will eventually know where to find you."

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