RED x Noordam
After a first convincing test with RED Horticulture on 2500m2, the Noordam company decided to extend the RED LED solution to 15000m2. The flexibility and performance of RED T lighting makes it the perfect ally for producers of young plants.
13 March 2024
100 years of experience in young plants
Martin Noordam is the director of Noordam Plants, a Dutch company based in s-Gravenzande located in Westland, Netherlands, which operates 10 hectares of greenhouses.
Drawing on more than 100 years of history, the company specializes in growing young fruit and vegetable plants.
Its mission is to produce uniform plants of perfect health quality and deliver them at a date agreed upon.
Constantly evolving customer requirements
Martin observes that customer requirements are constantly evolving and tending towards higher quality and homogeneity:
“Our customers have increasingly demanding requirements. Our mission is to know how to meet them. »
Several years ago, Martin grasped the wide range of possibilities provided by the technological revolution in horticultural lighting.
The Noordam site is divided into 27 distinct compartments. Each of them has different lighting needs and requires individual control. The notion of flexibility therefore takes on its full meaning.
Transitioning to smart LED with an experienced partner
Until then, Noordam’s lighting installation was comprised of 1000 watt SON-T (sodium).
The high-power consumption and lack of functionality have caused Martin to turn to LED. Equipped only with an ON/OFF system, the SON-T lamps did not enable to adapt to the needs of the crop, whether in terms of wavelengths, or in terms of light intensity.
A first test on 2500m2
Based on this observation, RED Horticulture’s proposal resonated with Martin.
Impressed by RED’s strong experience regarding this breakthrough innovation that is smart LED, Martin selected RED two years ago to conduct a first trial over a surface area of 2500m2 equipped with RED T lighting. Since then, Noordam and RED Horticulture have been in frequent contact to develop their collaboration. Martin highlights the two-step flexibility of the RED solution :
– Adjustment of the lighting strategy
– Real-time adjustment
RED Horticulture’s expertise in photobiology makes it possible to fully exploit the potential of RED T lighting. An area in which RED Horticulture continually invests in R&D in order to continue to advance the sector.
Convincing tests prior to investment over a surface of 15,000m2
As the trial of the RED solution met the expectations of the Noordam teams, an expansion of the RED illuminated surface was carried out last year on over 1.5 hectares. RED T 680 lighting delivers power equivalent to that of 1000 watt HPS lamps and enables energy savings up to 60%.
Martin highlights RED for the quality of its agronomic support:
“They helped and guided us upon start-up of the installation, particularly with the creation of lighting recipes specific to Noordam.”
On a daily basis, crop manager John, is the person working with the RED solution. On-site feedback since the expansion are just as satisfactory.
Lighting recipes specific to each crop stage
The lighting strategy is spread over several periods. Rooting, plant morphology and even flowering are clearly defined phases in terms of lighting requirements. Thus, overall agronomic control has progressed significantly since the transition to smart LED.
100% RED within 2 years
Taking advantage of smart LED requires mastering a wide range of skills: lighting design, agronomic expertise, development of control software, etc. As a pioneer in this field, RED Horticulture provides its customers with the most advanced application on the market and guarantees a head start on the competition.
The My RED application is central to the daily monitoring of the lighting strategy. After significant initial zoning work, the Noordam teams now operate the application with autonomy. MyRED enables to be informed of all light data and adjust strategies if necessary.
Very satisfied with collaborating with RED Horticulture, Martin Noordam wishes to replace the entirety of his lighting system by the RED solution.
Learn more about the MyRED app
Simple to use with its user-friendly interface, numerous features, and a library of lighting recipes, MyRED is the most powerful tool for managing your lighting strategies.
MyRED