Houweling’s Group, is a family owned, world-renowned greenhouse tomato grower with facilities in Camarillo, CA, Mona, UT and Delta, BC. Founded by Cornelius Houweling—and now owned by his son Casey—Houweling’s is dedicated to delivering a full complement of scrumptious tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, while constantly innovating to reduce its environmental footprint.
Location: Delta, BC, Canada
Crop: Tomatoes
Luminaire: NXT2
Reflector: Beta
Houweling’s Tomatoes is a family owned greenhouse specializing in growing tomatoes and cucumbers, with locations in British Columbia, California and Utah. There is a strong correlation between DLI and plant growth (including yield and quality) and tomatoes require upwards of 22+ moles/day for optimal crop quality and yields. At their Delta, B.C. location, having a consistent DLI is especially important from November through February when naturally occurring outdoor DLI values are typically between 5 to 15 µmol/m².d. Therefore, to grow high quality produce year-round, they needed to install a highly efficient supplemental light system.
Given that tomato plants can grow very tall—directing light deep within the canopy to reach the lower leaves can be a challenge. For this reason, Houweling’s was looking for a lighting system that not only delivered the best light output, but also optimal light distribution for their application. The NXT2 with Beta Reflector provided them with the ideal solution. The NXT2 is a high-performance luminaire with an energy-efficient electronic ballast, and low maintenance requirements. The Beta reflector is designed specifically to deliver uniformly deep penetration of light into the canopy—providing optimal light intensity to even the lowest levels of the crop.
The growers were excited that the luminaires were much more efficient than their previous magnetic ballast fixtures – which also allowed them to qualify for rebate and incentive programs with B.C. Hydro. With an electronic ballast the light levels remain consistent, at almost 100% optimum PAR output, for up to 50,000 working hours, compared to their old magnetic ballast, which after 40,000 hours saw a reduction in 40-50% in PAR light levels. The new luminaires have also helped them save 2.2GWh of electricity per year.
With the new luminaires they also were able to increase crop yield by 3%, on a crop that is 4 weeks younger than previous. This means they can get more produce out earlier to customers – giving them a significant competitive advantage. To learn more, visit their website, and follow Houweling’s Group on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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