This article appeared in Hortidaily and Groentennieuws on 6 December 2022.
De Lage Kouter grows in the classroom all year round using HortiPower™ grow lights. Teacher and Training Officer for Basic Landscaping & Decoration Mr Derycke explains:
“Since September 2020, we have started the “landscape and decoration” training course in our school for special secondary education, which is new to us. In it, we teach our extraordinary young people, among other things, how to plant and sow, how to maintain gardens and green areas, how to prune, how to care for crops, how to grow and harvest, how to compose flower arrangements and plant arrangements.
Since we are currently developing/starting this training from scratch, we encountered some problems such as the seasons for growing, lack of a large greenhouse and sufficient daylight, lack of space, etc.”
During the search for solutions, Derycke came across HortiPower grow lamps. HortiPower grow lamps are used in tissue culture laboratories, indoor farms and greenhouse horticulture.
A test setup in the classroom with grow lighting
“The HortiPower grow lights are optimized for better plant growth and development. Various companies now grow their own vegetables, herbs or edible flowers in an indoor area. This can be done on a growing table, in a growing rack, a warehouse or a few floors in a building.” says Mr Kuipers co-founder of HortiPower. And this seemed to De Lage Kouter an amazing system, to be able to grow with students within the school building.
“Last school year we started a small setup that we doubled to this setup at the beginning of this school year (see photos). We already grew a lot of lettuce and sowed different flowers. We are currently testing lavender and pittosporum, from which we took cuttings. We are impressed with the first results! It is very nice to be able to grow in the classroom all year round!” adds Mr Derycke enthusiastically.
“At the end of next school year we will be moving from a classroom and we want to start up the setup with hydroponics. In the meantime, we are trying to build it up on a small scale so that we can already do some tests! Only happy faces here!” concludes Mr Derycke.
De Lage Kouter is a school with tailor-made education for every student. A school where you can be yourself and where you can learn, live, grow and discover. More info www.lagekouter.be/wie-zijn-wij
More info Mr Jille Kuipers jk@hortipower.com www.hortipower.com