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Soft Fruit
20 July 2021
Find out what heat pumps are and how they work.
2 December 2020
Screens have become an essential tool for energy saving, shading and climate control in modern protected horticulture. New screen materials which save more heat energy and transmit more light have been developed, enabling screens to be deployed more in the daytime, or in double layers. There has never been a wider range of screen materials to give the optimum balance between energy saving, light transmission and shading. Read more in this technical update.
23 June 2022
For 20 years or more, glasshouses originally built to produce other crops have been converted for soft fruit production. Read this Technical Update to find out more about how you can adapt existing glasshouses to suit soft fruit production.
23 June 2022
Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting has been developed for horticulture since the late 1980s, yet it remains on the periphery of mainstream sources for glasshouse lighting. Conventional assimilation (supplementary) lights, such as high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps, still tend to be the go-to option for many growers for various reasons. In this technical update, we consider the developments in LED technology in recent years and whether or not LEDs are an economically viable alternative to conventional light sources.
23 June 2022
This is part one of a two part update, in which we revisit the conventional sources of CO2 supply and discuss the influence of factors, such as heat requirement and electricity price on the cost attributed to CO2 supply. Conventional sources includes: flue gas from the ‘back of the gas boiler’, LPG or kerosene direct-fired heaters, CHP units or pure CO2 delivered to site.
2 December 2020
Energy makes the world go round and it can manifest itself in many forms including radiation, light and chemical. However, we are mostly concerned with it as heat, electricity or as fuel (i.e. oil, gas, wood etc.) which, for the most part we pay for. It’s important that we are able to measure it, so we can evaluate and compare its costs and assess how efficiently it’s being used. Read more about how best to measure your energy use in this technical updates.
8 June 2022
Green manures, also referred to as fertility building crops, may be broadly defined as crops grown for the benefit of the soil.
8 June 2022
Green manures, also referred to as fertility building crops, may broadly be defined as crops grown for the benefit of the soil. This factsheet aims to help growers appreciate the financial implications of their use and the potential for computer models to help integrate them effectively into rotations.
24 May 2022
This guide has been produced to provide soft fruit growers with an easy reference to get the most out of their biocontrol use within an integrated crop management system
8 June 2022
Gooseberry sawfly, American gooseberry mildew and die-back caused by Phytophthora and Eutypa are a particular problem for many growers. This guide will help to identify regularly found pest and disease problems and how best to manage them. It also provides a resume of the current varieties available to growers along with some brief notes on cultural considerations.
30 June 2022
This report explains our knowledge of dormancy in raspberry and a new approach to modelling the dormancy response of floricane cultivars.