A Belgian farm will complete the installation of LED lamps this year

Tomato Masters and Plessey, a tomato grower located in Flemish, Belgium, will complete the installation of 100% Hyperion ceiling lights this year. By then, the overall level of supplementary light on the tomato farm will exceed 200 umol/m2/s.

It is reported that the two companies reached a partnership in 2018, and Tomato Masters intends to install Plessey's LED lighting fixtures for its new greenhouse of 5.4 hectares. This is one of the largest greenhouses in the world with 100% LED installations for tomatoes and it is interesting how the crop responds.

Plessey said that LED is a cold light source, which does not generate much radiant heat and has little impact on the temperature of the cultivation environment.

To reduce the heat generated by the lighting, Tomato Masters installed a high-level heat pipe to compensate for the temperature difference, but this pipe is currently out of use, prompting the company's head of cultivation, Tom Vlaemynck, to consider lowering the heat pipe.

Maarten Klein, Plessey's chief agronomist, said that with 200 umo/m2/sl of LED lighting, the Tomato Master can provide a total artificial light equivalent to 1200 joules per day, not including ambient light levels. Thanks to the high lighting performance of LED luminaires, the Tomato Master can illuminate fully grown crops at reasonable densities in mid-winter. As a result, growers are able to choose a planting time throughout the year, regardless of the variety being planted, with consistent high production from week to week.