Increasing the temperature of a traditional sloping-roof greenhouse with Harmony climate screen
Corne Brooijmans, a plant grower from Plantas de Andalucia, tells us how they deal with the low winter temperatures after incorporating our thermal and shade screen.
Plantas de Andalucia offers high-quality cuttings. Among other things, it produces petunias for a Dutch company. In the face of the coldest months: December, January, and February, they decided to install the Harmony 3845 screen by Svensson in their petunia greenhouses.
Traditional Spanish sloping roof greenhouses are increasingly carrying out this type of installation with the Svensson screen, showing spectacular results like in a multi-tunnel greenhouse. Our screen not only helps to regulate the climate inside the greenhouse, but it also ensures faster growth and stronger plants.
Corne and their team contacted us to determine which screen would fit their greenhouse better. So from Svensson, we traveled to evaluate their needs and we showed them how the screen works in a greenhouse in which we previously installed the Harmony 3845. Furthermore, we explained to them and implemented different tests so that they can familiarize themselves with the objective of each screen.
"Before using this screen, we only managed to increase the temperature by 1 or 2 degrees in the greenhouse. Now we have reached 16 degrees."
Why did you decide to install the Harmony 3845 screen in your greenhouses?
Our objective was to have greater production, because in these months, the climate in the greenhouse is logically harsher. In this region, the temperatures decrease at night up to a minimum of five to six degrees. We wanted to keep the greenhouse warm at night, so we installed this screen to begin the heating process.
"Choosing this screen was very easy. Our objective was clear, and with the guidance of the Svensson team, we very quickly decided on this one."
"The Harmony screen also helps us to reduce fungal diseases because it also dehumidifies the environment at night."
How has your experience with this screen been until now?
We especially use it at night. We close at around six or seven in the evening when the temperature decreases quickly. With it, we managed to increased the temperature up to a maximum of 18 degrees.
The screen’s fiber retains the heat a lot compared to the type of plastic greenhouses that we have in Spain, where the heat escapes very quickly. When we didn’t have the screen, our energy costs were almost more than twice what we have now.
The screen acts like a blanket, preserving the heat between the plants and this one. Since the temperature is more stable, we notice that production has improved. In some varieties, we have already seen an increase of up to 30-40%. It is especially noticeable in the quality, because in the winter with the low temperatures, the cuttings became very hard.
On the other hand, Harmony is also very effective against humidity, which we have managed to reduce by up to 70%.
In the face of summer, we wanted to take advantage of the light to use this screen and introduce diffused light inside the greenhouse so that we ultimately do not need to whitewash the roof a lot.
"I am very satisfied with the results from the Svensson screen. This installation was a new risk, but it has been a success."
