TEACHING SHOW AT IPM ESSEN 2017: "LEDS, IODINE, PLASMA … - CULTIVATION CONTROL TODAY"

The Teaching Show which the Central Horticultural Association (ZVG) will stage in Hall 1A at IPM ESSEN will be characterised by "Cultivation Control in Ornamental Plant Cultivation". With the main focal points of light and growth regulation, research establishments from the whole of Germany will present their latest results.

Light
Particularly in the field of light, a lot has been done in the past years. New lamp types which promise to be optimally adjusted to the growth and development of plants are being extolled time and time again. Demonstrations given by the Geisenheim Horticulture Centre (federal state company and university) will serve to highlight to what extent this applies to selected lamp types and plant species.

If it is a matter of light in plant production, it is often a matter of LEDs, too. Whether as assimilation lighting or in order to influence the growth and development of plants – there are many utilisation possibilities for LEDs. The Beuth University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, the University of Applied Sciences in Weihenstephan-Triesdorf, the Teaching and Testing Institute for Horticulture in Hanover-Ahlem as well as the Straelen Testing Centre will present various aspects of LED lighting and its effect on ornamental plants.

In this respect, one focal point will relate to the measurement of individual spectral colours of light and how these can be used for lighting with LEDs. Appropriately for this, the Teaching and Testing Institute for Horticulture in Hanover-Ahlem will present the "ViSuELL" (Procedures for Selective Light Application with LEDs in Greenhouses) project which commenced last year. The objective of the project is to elaborate lighting recipes with individual spectral colours in order to save on inhibitors which control the flowering and improve the rooting. Not only initial results but also the technical implementation measures will be presented.

Growth Regulation
The growth of plants can be influenced in diverse ways. The prerequisite for optimum cultivation management is to observe the plant stocks. Special cameras permit their permanent monitoring and thus the cultivator's targeted intervention in good time. How that functions as a whole will be shown by the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück.

Inhibitors continue to be an important constituent of growth regulation. The Teaching and Testing Institute for Horticulture in Bad Zwischenahn will demonstrate to what extent additives increase the effectiveness of inhibitors and can thus decrease their application frequencies and rates. The possibilities and limits of delaying the flowering of early-flowering pot violas in winter will also be shown. Information about alternative growth regulation procedures, such as the utilisation of iodine (University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück), a plant aid (Service Centre for Rural Regions in Neustadt) and mechanical stimuli (Teaching and Testing Institute for Horticulture in Heidelberg and Humboldt University in Berlin), will be given, too.