Grower Verbaarschot focuses on year-round cucumber cultivation with hybrid lighting

Cucumber grower Ties Verbaarschot is making significant strides in year-round cultivation. In the winter of 2021, he expanded his cultivation area by 4 hectares in Meijel after acquiring a neighboring greenhouse. This expansion brought his total cultivation area to 19 hectares, with existing operations in Wellerlooi and Helenaveen.

Verbaarschot immediately decided to invest in higher light intensity by partially replacing the existing SON-T lamps with MechaTronix CoolStack BOOST LED grow lights. This hybrid lighting setup increased the light level from 175 µmol/m² to an impressive 240 µmol/m², while reducing energy consumption per square meter. This innovation has created an optimal growing environment for his Hi Power cucumbers, cultivated at a planting density of 2.25 plants per m².

The entire project was supervised by Jan Jansen, owner of Jansen Greenhouse Industry Consultancy. In addition to the MechaTronix lamps, Cogas Zuid was contracted to handle the cabling of the new installation. Verbaarschot collaborates with the BelOrta cooperative, which markets his cucumbers.