PH&G_140_Feb14

56 Pages·2014·6.4 MB·English

The Commercial Growers’ Magazine www.hydroponics.com.au
LIGHTING
in
HORTICULTURE
JAKARTA . . . towards food security
ISSUE
140
GREENING THE DESERT MOBILE SCREEN SYSTEM
4
1
0 Growing challenges in the Middle East Study finds yield increase using Harmony screen
2

Y
R READER INQUIRIES PRECISION GROWING
A
U
How do I manage nutrient balance? Aligning energy and root zone management strategies
R
B
E
F

Published by:
From The Editor
Casper Publications Pty Ltd
(A.B.N. 67 064 029 303)
PO Box 225, Narrabeen, NSW 2101
Tel: [phone]
Lighting in Horticulture
info hydroponics.com.au
@
Managing Editor
Steven Carruthers
editor hydroponics.com.au T
@ his issue has a strong focus on lighting in horticulture, including the latest
research and development in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Representing the
Contributing Authors biggest advancement in horticultural lighting since the development of High
Rick Donnan, Christine Brown-Paul, Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps, LEDs are increasingly used for controlled
Sam Ross,Dr Bill Jarvis, Andrew Lee environment research (growth chambers), lighting for tissue culture, lighting for
Piet Hein van Baar plant propagation (plant factories), and supplemental and photoperiod lighting for
greenhouses in countries with seasonal low light levels.
Advertising Sales Compared to HID lamps, LEDs have the ability to control the spectral composition,
Mark Lewis the ability to produce very high light levels with low radiant heat output when cooled
Tel: [phone] properly, and they maintain useful light output for years without replacement.
Significantly, LED is the first light source with the potential to match wavelengths to
Email: marklewis hydroponics.com.au
@
plant photoreceptors to optimise plant growth and yields, and to influence
morphology and composiiton. In today’s digital age, LEDs can be integrated into
Subscription Hotlines
control systems to deliver lighting programs such as ‘daily light integral’ lighting,
Ph: [phone]
and sunrise and sunset simulations. Other advantages of LEDs include their light
(Int.) Tel: [phone] weight compared to HID systems, safer operation than current lamps because they
Email: [email protected] do not have glass envelopes or high touch temperatures, and they do not contain
www.hydroponics.com.au/free-subscriptions heavy metals such as mercury.
Despite these advantages, many commercial growers are reluctant to embrace
Facebook LED lighting, mainly because of cost, and also because of little research for specific
crops. Since its first development by NASA in the late 1980s and early 1990s, to
‘Like us’
provide red and blue light for plant growth systems designed for research on the
www.facebook.com/PracticalHydroponics
space shuttle and space station, the technology has progressed to high-density,
multicolour LED chip-on-board devices. With more light output and decreases in
Twitter
device costs, LEDs are becoming more economically viable for large-scale
‘Follow us’
horticultural applications. However, there is still much more work needed before
http://twitter.com/#!/phgonline LEDs truly become an efficient and economical lighting source. Not least is
research to better understand the role of colours in plant growth, not just red and
Editorial Information blue; the ‘genome’ of plant lighting for want of a description. Only then will LED
Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses welcomes lighting fulfil its promise. In this issue, we learn a little more about LED lighting
freelance contributions and letters with a developments, as well as advances in light-emitting plasma lights (LEPs).
hydroponic, greenhouse or IPM focus. Copy is
Light is also the focus in our two articles testing Harmony shade screens in
also accepted by email or disk in Wordformat. Hi-
greenhouse tomato facilities. The first describes a major study comparing Harmony
resolution digital images are accepted – .tif, .jpg,
shade screens to a greenhouse that has been whitewashed. The joint study was
.eps or .pdf format. No responsibility is accepted
carried out by screen secialist Svensson and Spain’s Andalusian Institute for
for loss or damage to unsolicited material.
Research and Training for Agriculture (IFAPA). The Harmony mobile screen system
© Copyright Casper Publications Pty Ltd 2014. All enabled the tomatoes to receive 31.2% more light than the whitewashed
material in Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses is greenhouse during the course of the experiment, with a significant increase in fruit
copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced production. This study is supported by Grodan trials on a greenhouse tomato crop
without the written permission of the Publisher. to maximise production and quality with a reduced environmental footprint, using
the XLS 20F Harmony Revolux screen. Both these articles have relevance for
www.hydroponics.com.au commercial greenhouse operators located in hot, dry regions, not only in the
southeastern Spanish province of Almería and the Mediterranean Basin, but also in
ISSN 2202-1485 the hot, dry regions of Australia. Enjoy the read!
Steven Carruthers
Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses .February . 2014. 3

A Magazine for
Commercial Growers
Advertising Inquiries
Tel: [phone]
ISSUE 140 :: FEBRUARY 2014 :: THE COMMERCIAL GROWERS’ MAGAZINE
marklewis hydroponics.com.au
@
Features
Greening the Desert.................................14
TRADE DIRECTORY
With an abundance of sunlight and oil but a
A&D Weighing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 scarcity of water and arable land, the
Agnova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Middle East faces growing challenges to
Autogrow Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 provide food security for its regions. .
Besgrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Jakarta: towards food security.................20
Boxsell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
In Jakarta, Indonesia, urban farming and
Coast Guard Netting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 hydroponics are initiatives that are Greening the Desert
Ecogrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 increasingly being utilised to feed the city’s
Exfoliators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 expanding population to ensure food security.
Extrusion Technologies Int. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Practical
Faber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .OBC
Faber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Lighting in Horticulture............................28
Galuku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Selecting an appropriate lighting system for
Graeme Smith Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 growing plants indoors, or in a greenhouse
Grodan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 environment, depends on many factors.
Growhard/Gavita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Does Light Quality Impact on the
Hortworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IFC Development of Edema............................40 Jakarta . . . towards food security
Hydrogarden Wholesale Supplies . . . . . . . . . .8
UV, blue and far-red light can prevent the
Legro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 development of edema on some plants in
Manchil IPM Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 the tomato family.
Peet van Ruyven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Mobile Screen System Results.................42
Pestech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Major study finds that tested greenhouse
Priya Chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
tomato facility achieves 25% increase in
Svensson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
volume using Harmony shade screen.
Valoya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Precision Growing: Part 4........................46
Aligning energy and root zone management
strategies for sustainable tomato cultivation Lighting in Horticulture
Casper Publications is a member of Publishers
Australia, an association for specialist and
business publishers. Departments
Disclaimer
From the Editor..........................................3
The information contained in this magazine whether
Reader Inquiries.........................................7
in editorial matter or in feature articles or in
advertisements is not published on the basis that the News & Products......................................10
Publisher accepts or assumes liability or responsibility Product Catalogue....................................55
to any reader of the magazine for any loss or damage
resulting from the correctness of such information.
Cover Image: High Pressure Sodium
www.hydroponics.com.au
greenhouse supplemental lighting supplied by
Precision Growing
P.L. Light Systems in the Netherlands.
Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses .February . 2014. 5
Your
plants
deserve
the best,
right?
Let’s grow!
NEW
50L www.legro.com.au
BAGS!
As a fantastic growing medium with an exceptional capacity(cid:1)
for absorbing and distributing water, coco shows virtually
no degradation, making it more stable than other organic(cid:1)
substrates. We offer high quality coco with continuous
quality, always sharp prices and guaranteed service, supply(cid:1)
and delivery! You can order by phone (cid:12)(cid:23)(cid:18)(cid:1)(cid:9)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:20)(cid:1)(cid:26)(cid:22)(cid:22)(cid:22)(cid:1)(cid:22)(cid:19)(cid:23)(cid:24) or
via(cid:1)[email protected]
Thanks for your letters
I have a few suggestions to help us better identify your problems, and hence give the most appropriate answers:
•Some of your letters are very long. This is not a problem, but they will have to be edited down beforepublishing. •Please keep your actual questions
short, and limit yourself to one, or at most two, questions. •Please comment as to whether you are a hobbyist or a commercial grower, and what
crop you aregrowing. •Please describe at least the basics of your system, especially whether you recirculate or not. This is vital information, but
often overlooked. Other useful information, if known, would be: media type, container size and depth, channel size, length and slope, solution volume
per plant. •For irrigation and nutrient questions, please describe your typical irrigation pattern over a day, plus how and when your solutions are
Rick Donnan made up. If you have had any analysis done, such as your raw water, please attach acopy. •Include any extra information you wish.
Address your inquiry to: PH&GPO Box 225, Narrabeen, NSW 2101 AUSTRALIA Email: [email protected]
Reader Inquiries
Question individual nutrients and the impact that shown in Figure 1. This applies to all
How do I manage nutrient balance in this has in that the nutrient balance of individual nutrients, although of course
hydroponic systems? Part 2. the feed input and the root zone the concentration involved for each
solution will always be different.
nutrient will differ widely. However, the
Correction: In my answer to Part 1 in the
January issue there was part of Table 2 What precision is needed? overall pattern will be similar for all.
missing for a few days. If you read the The typical pattern of the effect on yield At low levels there will be a
answer during this period, part of it of variation of nutrient concentration is deficiency, which will depress the yield.
would have been incomplete, so please
read it again.
Figure 1. Influence of nutrient concentration upon yield.
How precise does nutrient management
have to be in hydroponics? Also, is there
a difference in managing nutrition in
systems which recirculate (also known
as ‘closed’ systems) and those which
don’t (also known as ‘open’ or ‘free
drainage’ systems)?
Answer
By nutrient balance management I am
referring to management of the nutrient
balance in the solution around the plant
roots, known as the ‘root zone solution’.
Part 1 looked at the root zone solution
and its importance. It also looked at the
different rates of uptake of the
Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses .February . 2014. 7
COMMERCIAL
GREENHOUSE &
Figure 2. Flow diagram for a free drainage hydroponic system.
HYDROPONIC GROWING
TRAINING COURSE
JUNE 2014
AAA ooonnnee--oofffff ccchhhaaannnccceee tttooo tttaaakkkeee
aaadddvvvaaannntttaaagggeee ooofff ttthhhiiisss UUUKKK cccooouuurrrssseee,,,
ddeelliivveerreedd bbyy 22 iinntteerrnnnaaatttiiiooonnnaaallllllyyy
rreessppeecctteedd iinndduussttrryy ssppeeeccciiiaaallliiiissssttttssss
Topics Include:
• media types & characteristics
• nutrition & nutrient management
• EC & pH
• environmental management
• climate change risks & opportunities
• greenhouse design & layout
• plant structure
• water quality & treatment
• plant physiology
• irrigation - media management
• plant health As the concentration increases the control over its EC can be relatively
• pest & disease control yield reaches a maximum and holds challenging. As discussed before,
this level over a range, rather than a there is a wide range of nutrient
sharp peak. A further increase in balance, which will be acceptable to
concentration heads into the zone of the plant. Provided the EC is being
toxicity and eventually plant death. kept under control, then a moderately
The course is specifically designed to develop
the technical and management skills of the Another aspect of importance is that well balanced feed will keep the root
owners, staff and managers of greenhouse and as a nutrient concentration moves zone solution from getting too far from
hydroponic growing environments to meet
the challenges of climate change. The course is from OK into the deficient or toxic standard. That is, it is run off before it
suitable for all levels of expertise and experience zone, there will already be a loss in gets too far out of balance.
and also for those considering setting up a
hydroponic greenhouse operation. yield before you can detect any visible
Recirculating (‘closed’) systems
It covers ALL aspects of commercial greenhouse- symptoms of a problem.
based hydroponic growing, and attendees A flow diagram for this type of
will gain a unique insight into the latest
Free drainage (‘open’) systems hydroponic system is shown in
developments and best practice currently being
employed throughout the world. It is also highly A flow diagram for this type of Figure 3. Unlike an open system, the
useful for commercial horticultural companies
hydroponic system is shown in Figure 2. solution coming out of the dripper or
wishing to gain an insight into the rapidly
expanding market of hydroponics. These are virtually all media-based irrigator is not the fertiliser input.
The course includes practical training, systems, fed through drippers. Feed The feed solution also contains the
discussions, demonstrations and lectures
supported by written notes and other practical supplied is typically about 20% to 40% recycle. This is why I refer to the
tools. The course will be conducted by two highly in excess of what is taken up by the fertiliser, water and acid/alkali as the
experienced Australian industry presenters
Graeme Smith and Rick Donnan. plant and that excess is drained off and ‘input’, as shown in Figure 3. This is
used responsibly elsewhere. important because your aim is to
2nd-6th June 2014
Correspondingly, the plant takes up keep the nutrient balance of the root
Location: Coventry, UK
60% to 80% of the volume of feed. zone solution steady. In order to do
Course cost: £950 plus VAT. Lunch, as
well as morning and afternoon tea will The nutrient management of open this you need to keep the nutrient
be provided thoughout the course. systems is relatively easy. This is the balance of the input the same as that
Accommodation & travel not included. major reason why they have been of the plant uptake.
popular, along with reduced risk of Recirculating systems have many
TTTooo rrreeegggiiisssttteeerrr yyyyooouuurrr iiinnnttteeerrreeesssttt ooorrr fffooooorrr fffuuurrrttthhheeerrr spread of root diseases, in spite of the advantages. However, their nutrient
iiinnnfffooorrrmmmaaattttiiiooonnn,,, pppllleeeaaassseee cccooonnntttaaacctt KKiimm waste involved. Managing the amount management is difficult, an aspect
EEddwwaarrddss ooonn 0022447766 665511550000 oorr eemmaaiill::
of run-off and maintaining reasonable rarely mentioned in books and articles.
kkiimm..ee@@@hhyyddrrooggaarrdddeeennn...cccooo...uuukkk
8. Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses .February . 2014
adjusting the nutrient balance of the
fertiliser input to maintain the
Figure 3. Flow diagram for a recirculating hydroponic system.
recommended root zone analysis.
Especially where the plant nutrient
demand changes with the stage of
growth, as with tomatoes, then the
input needs to be adjusted to suit.
For a hobby grower, the standard
procedure has been to periodically
discard the solution in the system and
replace with a fresh batch. Weekly
discard is often recommended, which is
safe and easy, but quite wasteful. How
quickly a recirculating solution gets out
of balance depends on several factors,
but the most important are how close
the input is to the plant uptake, and
what quantity of fertiliser has been
used. At a low rate of uptake, such as
when plants are small and/or the
climate is cold or dull, then the build up
Consequently, inexperienced growers more difficult. If this continues,
do not recognise the need for good eventually the root zone solution gets of imbalance will be much slower than
nutrient management techniques, and too far out of balance and the plants when large plants are growing strongly.
can get into serious difficulties. suffer. The grower's aim is to maintain
Consequently, during stages of low
There is a major difference between the root zone solution at a suitable
uptake the period between discard can
the ease of nutrient management in nutrient balance.
be much longer.
recirculating and non-recirculating Good nutrient management for a
systems. With recirculation, any commercial hydroponic grower requires
Part 3. Next month I’ll look at fertiliser
imbalance in the recycled nutrient regular full chemical analysis of the
solution continues to build with every root zone solution. Any imbalance and the influence of water quality and
pass, making nutrient management developing is then corrected by acid/alkali addition. b
Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses .February . 2014. 9
News & Products
World-first dripper a breakthrough Up until now, users have had to use Almond Conference in Adelaide, an
for sub-surface drip irrigation users chemically infused disc filters and industry Wayne anticipates will strongly
A world-first in dripper manufacturing chemicals such as Trifluralin with the demand it.
technology has resulted in a major units, which are also normally replaced He said the technology would also be
breakthrough for sub-surface drip every two years. incorporated into other drippers in the
irrigation users—they no longer have to With Netafim’s latest UniRam XR Netafim dripperline range.
use chemically impregnated disc filters dripper, there is no need for chemical The UniRam XR dripper is available
and chemicals with the systems. additives and, hence, user handling now through Netafim dealers.
Netafim, the global leader in smart of chemicals.
Nu-Klear multi-purpose
drip and micro-irrigation solutions, has “Netafim has been moving toward
heating pad
launched a unique dripper that allows more chemical-free systems to make
Nu-Klear Products has been trading in
for chemical-free resistance to them as friendly and safe as possible for
New Zealand since 1991 and specialises
root intrusion. users,’’ said the company’s Product
in providing and solving heating
The diaphragm cover is impregnated Offering Manager, Wayne Ingram.
requirements for a range of commercial
with copper oxide as part of the mould. “We wanted a dripper product that was
and domestic uses, by offering a low-
This prevents deterioration over time chemical free so customers don’t have
wattage heating system.
and it works effectively for the lifetime of to handle chemicals and then buy disc
Among the company’s primary
the dripperline. filter replacements.
products that it manufactures is a range
“In the long run, the new dripper will
of flexible panel heating products. The
make sub-surface systems more
range includes the Multi Mat and Ag Pad
economical and, importantly, operators
multi-purpose-heating pad to germinate
will have less exposure to chemicals.
seeds to ensure plants get a great start
“Customers won’t have to handle or
to life. The Ag Pad can be
pay for chemicals. They will gain at least
thermostatically controlled for a more
the same effect for their systems
exact regulation of temperature.
without chemicals.
The Nu-Klear Ag Pad consists of a
“This is significant because chemicals
unique carbon element, connecting into
are an extra capital cost and there is the
the power supply, using a flexible cable.
ongoing maintenance expense.
No earth is required. Nu-Klear can make
The interior and exterior of the new Chemically impregnated filter
Ag Pads to sizes that suit your
Netafim UniRam XR dripper. requirements are an addition to
specifications and requirements.
everything else.’’
The standard Ag Pads measure 300mm
Wayne said the Netafim UniRam XR
dripper was suitable for general sub-
surface irrigation applications, but
especially in the turf, nursery, landscape
and agricultural sectors, including
multi-seasonal row crops as well as tree
and vine crops.
The unique dripper attracted a lot of
attention at the recent annual Australian
10. Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses .February . 2014