Tomatoes - Bloemteknik

Adjust Your Thinking

Adjustable light-engines to increase tomato yield, shorten crop cycles & save energy.

What is it?

Patent pending adjustable light-engines designed to increase PPFD on the vertical face of your vine growing plants.

How does it work?

Engineered to be application adaptable, improve uniformity and maximise PAR light-use efficiency within your facility.

Baseline Vertical PPFD (µmol/m2/s)

~12% increase in Vertical PPFD
(µmol/m2/s) vs 1 kW HPS

~43% increase in Vertical PPFD
(µmol/m2/s) vs 1 kW HPS

What does this mean for my tomato plants?

Growers & academics agree that as a rule of thumb, a 1% increment in PPFD results in a 1% increase in yield of fruiting crops¹. Bloem’s adjustable light-engines enable growers to increase the PPFD on the vertical face of vine growing crops by up to 36%, without increasing energy consumption.

Existing

Conventional 1 kW HPS Toplight

Bloem Solution 1

Bloem 680W LED Top Crop

Bloem Solution 2

Bloem 680W LED Top Crop

“Intensity uniformity is the consistency of total PAR light distributed over the growing area. This is typically measured at the crop canopy by the volume (%) of the grow area that falls within the specified tolerance of the PPFD setpoint.”

Using Bloem’s Wand Platform

The Bloemteknik Wireless Adaptive Network Delivery (Wand) platform provides advanced dynamic control for single and multi-channel grow lights.

Dynamic Lighting

Whether the grow areas require precise, plant-centric dynamic control or a straightforward daily schedule, Bloem’s Wand platform offers a flexible and tailored solution designed to meet the unique needs of your facility

Development Phase Shifting

Dynamic light adjustment for optimised plant growth stages

Energy Cost Fluctuation

Efficient energy distribution to balance cost and performance

Circadian Rhythm Steering

Light modulation aligned with natural plant cycles

Artificial Daylength Extension

Extended illumination periods for enhanced productivity

Blue Light
400 - 500 nm

Increases biomass,
leaf thickness and
protein synthesis in tomato leaves

Increased Lycopene Carotenoid content, responsible for red colouration of fruit

Reported higher nutritional and overall sensory profile of tomato fruit

Green Light
500 - 600 nm

Green light provides deeper leaf and canopy penetration vs. red and blue light

Reported wider and longer leaves with larger spaces between leaflets

Improved human visual quality for detecting pests, pathogens, and nutrient deficiencies

Red Light
600 - 700 nm

Highest quantum yield light source in
photosynthesis

Wavelengths around 660nm encourages stem, leaf, and general vegetative growth

Larger proportions of red photons required during the tomato flowering period

Far Red Light
700 - 800 nm

High R/FR ratios can increase the photosynthetic rate and promote plant growth

High R/FR ratios reported to increase the biomass allocation to tomato fruits

Low R/FR ratios can cause unsuitable growth in the early stages of tomato plant development

Crop Type

Tomato Seedlings (New)

Tomato Seedlings (Mature)

Tomato

Crop Stage

Propagation

Vegetative Growth

Flowering

Fruiting

DLI (mol/m²/day)

2-5

8-15

20-30

25-40

PPFD (µmol/m²/s)

100-200

200-300

300-500

400-700

Photoperiod (Hours)

6-8

10-14

14-18

The quantity of photosynthetic active radiation (400 – 700nm) required is defined by the Daily Light Integral (DLI). DLI refers to the quantity of PAR the plant is exposed to within a single day (24-hour period). Each plant, including tomato plants, have a minimum and maximum DLI to facilitate growth and this varies by stages and variety.

Typically, flowering, and fruiting stages of tomato plants have a recommended DLI range of 25-40 mol/m²/day. The desired photosynthetic active radiation density (PPFD) can be calculated from the DLI target and exposure duration (photoperiod).

For example, using a photoperiod of 16 hours provides the following formulae:

25 mol/m²/day / 16 hours / 60 minutes / 60 seconds = 434 µmol/m²/s minimum PPFD
40 mol/m²/day / 16 hours / 60 minutes / 60 seconds = 694 µmol/m²/s maximum PPFD

Increasing the photoperiod decreases the PPFD requirement to achieve a similar DLI (mol/m²/day) and the reverse can be said for decreasing the photoperiod and increasing the PPFD.

“Typically, flowering & fruiting stages of tomato plants have a recommended DLI range of 25-40 mol/m²/day.”

Get the Full Story

To see the complete list of light wavelength effects on tomatoes, PPFD & photoperiods for all growth stages and much more please download our tomato cultivation lighting application guide.

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