12 June 2013
Aligning energy and root zone management strategies for sustainable tomato cultivation - Part 1/5
GRODAN, as partners in a project ‘The New Way of Growing’ with GreenQ at the Improvement Centre in the Netherlands, are investigating innovative cultivation techniques aimed at making tomato production more sustainable. In this, the first of five articles in a new series for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, GRODAN Crop Consultant ANDREW LEE and PIET HEIN van BAAR, Head Grower at the Improvement Centre, describe the way energy and root zone management strategies were aligned to realise maximum production and quality with a reduced environmental footprint. Part 1 describes crop steering from planting to flowering of the third cluster.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses March 2013
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05 April 2013
Adjusting drain volumes
Working with less drain per cent allows you to steer the crop with fewer inputs of water, fertilizer and energy. From the beginning of growing in substrate, achieving 30 per cent drain over 24 hours was always a good checkpoint for growers to know that they had supplied enough water for the plants.
Article published in Greenhouse Canada march-april 2013
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02 March 2013
Improving the Quality of Young Tomato Plants - Part 4/4
Grodan is once again happy to share its knowledge to support the Australian greenhouse industry. In the second of four articles for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, Grodan® Crop Consultant and young plant specialist HANS VAN HERK outlines the importance of communication between propagator and grower and provides tips on how the young plants should be handled during the delivery process so that disruptions to growth are minimised.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses March 2013
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01 March 2013
Improving the Quality of Young Tomato Plants - Part 3/4
Grodan is once again happy to share its knowledge to support the Australian greenhouse industry. In the second of four articles for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, Grodan® Crop Consultant and young plant specialist HANS VAN HERK provides an insight into the world of hi-tech tomato propagation and describes how young plant development can be steered in propagation so that quality plants are delivered to the greenhouse.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses March 2013
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01 December 2012
Improving the Quality of Young Tomato Plants - Part 2/4
Grodan is once again happy to share its knowledge to support the Australian greenhouse industry. In the second of four articles for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, Grodan® Crop Consultant and young plant specialist HANS VAN HERK provides an insight into the world of hi-tech tomato propagation and describes the importance of uniformity along the value chain and its impact for Australian greenhouse production.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses November - December 2012
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19 November 2012
Less drain is good for plant and profit
Thanks to research, technical innovations, better understanding and experience, growers continuously improve on production and quality. Suppliers also play an important role in increasing yield and reducing costs. Substrate producer, Grodan, advocates The New Watering: Achieve more with less through maximal recycling of drain and fertilisers. Tomato growers Arien and René van der Lans share their positive experiences.
Article published in: In Greenhouses October 2012
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20 August 2012
Improving the Quality of Young Tomato Plants - Part 1/4
Grodan is once again happy to share its knowledge to support the Australian greenhouse industry. In the first of four articles for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, Grodan® Crop Consultant and young plant specialist HANS VAN HERK provides an insight into the world of hi-tech tomato propagation and describes the trends that are happening in Europe and their significance for Australia.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses May - June 2012
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20 October 2011
Recycling Drain Water: Improving the Efficiency of Water and Fertiliser Use
A steerable substrate with a focused irrigation strategy combined with recycling the drain water can significantly help reduce input costs as well as enable compliance to environmental emission laws without affecting yield and quality. In the last of the current series of articles for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, Grodan® crop consultant Andrew Lee outlines the true cost of water and fertiliser and how recycling of drain water from the start of cultivation can result in significant cost savings for growers as well as helping them comply with stricter environmental legislation. By Andrew Lee.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses September - Ocotober 2010
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17 September 2010
Crop rotation with an eye to the Water Framework Directive
Crop rotation offers the perfect opportunity to disinfect and clean the greenhouse and make a fresh start with a new crop. Grodan has a number of recommendations which will help you make optimum use its substrate design features and at the same time save water and fertilisers even before the new cultivation has started.
01 June 2010
Improving Tomato Fruit Quality
Reducing or eliminating fruit physiological disorders with correct root zone management. In the fifth of six articles for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, Grodan® Crop Consultant ANDREW LEE describes the processes and reasons why at certain times of the year tomato crops are more susceptible to a number of fruit quality disorders.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses May - June 2010
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11 March 2010
Water and EC management
How to fine tune the irrigation strategy during spring and summer to avoid costly mistakes using tools such as the Grodan® Water Content Meter (WCM) and the graphics function of the climate computer.In the fourth of six articles for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, Grodan® Crop Consultant ANDREW LEE outlines how to set up an irrigation strategy using real life examples from his experience as a consultant.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses March - April 2010
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04 January 2010
Steering the root zone environment
Goals and targets for crop and root zone management in response to changes in plant development, fruit load and light levels. In the third of six articles for Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, Grodan® Crop Consultant, Andrew Lee provides an insight into the 6-phase model®, which describes plant development and explains how using this knowledge growers can form coherent strategies in respect to root zone management throughout the duration of the cropping cycle.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses January - February 2010
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31 October 2009
Understanding Substrate Design
Key features of stonewool substrates and why they are important when implementing an irrigation strategy for optimum plant performance. Grodan® Crop Consultant Andrew Lee provides an insight into the key features of stonewool substrates and describes how by understanding the basic principles behind them growers can gain maximum benefit from an applied irrigation strategy.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses November - December 2009
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30 October 2009
Reusing stone wool slabs is a risky business even in tough economic times
Daniel Ludeking Product Manager of crop health at the diagnostic laboratory Blgg in The Netherlands poses a very topical question for crop turn round in 2009. Is reusing stone wool slabs for another year a smart way of economising in tough economic times or are growers taking a huge gamble with their business?
Article published in De Groenten en Fruit week 43
30 June 2009
Movement of Water Through Plants
How a plant uses water and the interaction between root zone and aerial environments. Grodan® Crop Consultant Andrew Lee provides an insight into the physiological process of water uptake by plants and describes how the root zone and aerial environment interact to drive this within the glasshouse.
Article published in Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses July - August 2009
