Greenhouse Canada

Features Efficiency Energy
Grow pipe placement critical for optimal efficiency

October 1, 2012  By Treena Hein


This image depicts the grow pipe research of Dr. Xiuming Hao, with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.

Grow pipes – heating tubes that run through the crop canopy and can be adjusted as the crop grows taller – are becoming an increasingly popular energy optimization system for vegetable growers in Canada.

 

Grow pipes have been shown to increase fruit temperature, reduce the humidity inside the crop canopy and increase fruit yield without increasing energy consumption.

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However, proper placement of the pipes is critical.

Watch for an upcoming Energy Edge feature on grow pipes, featuring the research of Dr. Xiuming Hao of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) ‘Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre’ (GPCRC) in Harrow, Ontario.

Hao says that ten years ago there was no use of grow pipes in Ontario greenhouse vegetable production, but their use today (almost all on tomatoes) is now approximately 166 acres.

 


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