A Swedish view on high-wire winter production with automatic lowering system

Roy Rosendahl from Klagstorps Grukodling is one of the very few Swedish cucumber growers who are running winter production under lights. 

9 years ago, Rosendahl changed from tomatoes to cucumbers. It was not a very big step for him, but growing cucumbers is surely tougher than growing tomatoes. “These plants grow 65 up to 75 centimeters per week in summertime. And the tomatoes maybe did 25. So, it is a much, much bigger challenge”, Roy says. 

This is one of the reasons why he equipped his greenhouse with an automatic lowering system. “It means that you have about 60 meters on the roll. And you can lower the whole line in one shot”, he explains. “This also means that there has to be a very even temperature in the greenhouse because otherwise the plants grow much more on one side than on the other.”

Rosendahl explains the benefits of a lighted high-wire cucumber crop: “It is the perfect combination for better fruit quality and to avoid problems with mycosphaerella”.  He believes that the Swedish market for winter production has opportunities to develop further, “but the investment in lights is very high so you need to be sure to get a fixed price for the cucumbers”, he adds.