“Our research and collaboration with C-LED has allowed us to share difficulties, collaborate on solutions and develop a good product,” says Marco Orlandelli, CEO of Orlandelli Organization. Orlandelli Organization offers a wide range of horticultural equipment including carts, displays, ebb & flow systems, benches and accessories. The company recently partnered with C-LED, an LED lighting manufacturer, to develop growing racks with integrated LED lighting specifically for germination, grafting and cultivation.
“Our kits are the result of extensive research to create an efficient product. Upon delivering, the rack is in a box with two lights per shelf. Installation is quite easy; you simply put the four posts in the corners, add the shelves then plug the system,” says Marco.
Mattia Accorsi and Marco Orlandelli
Blossoming process
Although initially designed for germination and grafting, both Marco and Mattia Accorsi, senior light biologist with C-LED, explain that the trolleys can be used in nurseries, garden centers and other retailers for the production of compact crops and general plant maintenance. For example, Marco explained that they are going to design systems to be used in the florist section of supermarkets, whose environmental conditions may increase transpiration, stretching and early flowering of the plants.
“From the greenhouse to the trucks then sales area, plants go through many changes. Without the right spectrum or intensity, the plant quality decreases while in the store. We can help retailers maintain the plants better than without lights at all,” says Mattia.
DC trolleys with integrated light kits
According to the Orlandelli website, the collaboration between Orlandelli Organization and C-LED has resulted in the development of two racks: a DC trolley for germination and grafting, and another trolley for cultivation.
The 4-shelf trolley for germination and grafting is equipped with two cool white LEDs. The cool white lights (6500K) deliver 40-75 umol/m2/s. The cultivation rack is identical to the germination and grafting trolley except in that LED deliver blue, red and white light at 55-100 umol/m2/s.
The trolleys
According to Mattia, he and Marco wanted to develop a product that was easy to use and applied the vast experience from both Orlandelli and C-LED. More than half of the C-LED team are engineers or biologists with at least a masters’ degree, which has allowed C-LED to contribute significant research capacity and technical knowledge.
“We are highly invested in research and adhere to academic standards for research. We collaborate with twelve research centers in Italy to make sure that we can grow more cleanly while reducing the energy consumption. This is a sector that is constantly increasing so we’re trying to understand what the customer wants today and in the future,” says Mattia.
Research collaborations have focused on studying the effect of different spectra on crop growth and on improving efficiency.
New applications in 2021
On the technical side, C-LED will be developing its next-generation LEDs in the next few months to further reduce power consumption. The company is also looking to develop multi-channel LED systems to allow customers to customize the light spectra.
For more information:
Organizzazione Orlandelli
Marco Orlandelli, CEO
www.orlandelli.it
C-LED
Mattia Accorsi, Senior Light Biologist
www.c-led.it/en/