Using precision light control to turn African roots into healthy plants at Hendriks

NOVEMBER 2020

Hendriks Young Plants is a grower of young ornamental plants and breeder of Bella Fuchsia® varieties. Recently, the company expanded with a new 1.6-hectare greenhouse project that required a significant upgrade to its climate control solution. To ensure excellent growing conditions for rooted young plants, SchermNed installed the PARperfect screen solution from Svensson — a combination of screens designed to create a stable and uniform climate for plant development.

The Hendriks greenhouse produces a wide range of young plants, including Fuchsia, Pelargonium Grandiflorum, Osteospermum, and Argyranthemum. According to Ruud Hendriks, the company’s strength lies in turning unrooted cuttings from Africa into healthy, robust young plants strong enough for subsequent stages of production at growers both domestically and internationally.

“Our strength is to let unrooted cuttings from Africa grow into healthy young plants that are strong enough for the next phase with growers at home and abroad. Diffuse light and as few stress points as possible promote the growth of the crop,” says Ruud Hendriks.

To support this, the greenhouse structure was fully renovated. “Only the glass stayed in place,” the team explains. They equipped the greenhouse with four cultivation departments, processing and water technical rooms, and a comprehensive array of climate technology including a double screen installation.

Choosing PARperfect for uniform growth

When considering the climate screen solution, the team evaluated several options. Although a conventional energy screen was an alternative, the growers felt that PARperfect offered superior performance for uniform climate control.

“We weighed all choices carefully — you can only spend your money once,” says the team. “PARperfect seems to us the best solution for a uniform crop. This way, we go one step further in technology to further improve the quality of our plants.”

PARperfect uses a combination of at least two screens to regulate light and climate more precisely. At Hendriks Young Plants, the bottom screen is the Harmony PARperfect climate screen, and the top screen is an OBSCURA 9950 FR W — a flame-retardant screen designed to reduce light emission at night.

Flawless installation and meticulous finishing

SchermNed has been a trusted partner of the Hendriks family since the 1990s, and Carl Stougie, sales manager at SchermNed, led the project on site.

“Of course, it’s an advantage that our relationship goes back a long time, but it doesn’t guarantee that we get every project. We also had to make a strong case for this one — and that’s how it should be,” says Carl.

The installation went smoothly, and the team is eagerly awaiting performance results as the system is put into full use.

“It’s the first time we’ve installed PARperfect — so it’s also a new combination for us. I believe strongly in the concept and am curious about the results later. In any case, the installation went flawlessly,” Carl says.

To ensure optimal energy sealing and a neat finish, the team replaced fixed energy strip cloth with white plastisol plates and installed the system sealed to the glass (rather than to the glass bars), with black polyester support and wind wires for stability throughout the structure.