Surrounded by rows of healthy plants grown using the latest LED technology, Scottish forestry researcher Kenny Hay has no doubt that science can boost Britain’s net zero efforts.
A tray of nine-meter (30-foot) tall trees inside the James Hutton Institute near Dundee in eastern Scotland is emerging evidence for Hay and others that LED light can be relied upon to accelerate their growth.
According to Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), a government agency that manages the country’s forests, specimens placed in a vertical farm unit there grew six times faster than traditional outdoor planting methods.
Its growth trials – in partnership with indoor horticulture specialists Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) – could spark a transformation in the forestry sector and help the UK meet its net zero targets faster. .
“The initial results were surprising,” Hay, a manager at FLS, told JEE News during a tour of the vertical farm, as a technician controlled a mechanical elevator that accessed a stack of shelves filled with seedling trays. I was doing.
“We can grow a large amount of trees in a very, very small area, which is obviously going to help mitigate the climate.
“We will now look very carefully at how we can integrate this into our normal practice.”
Specific ‘Instruction’
According to He, the vertical farm project, which covers only 300 square meters (360 square yards), has “tremendous potential” for tree production.
Trials found that some plants grew 40–50 cm (16–20 in) tall in 90 days. A similar rate of growth in the outdoor arena would take 18 months.
The air inside the unit is warm and humid, matching the ideal temperature and humidity level for plants.
IGS founder Dave Scott told that researchers can tailor light, moisture, water, temperature and soil so that each plant has its own specific “prescription”.
Water and nutrients are controlled by computer and fed to the plants through a network of plastic pipes.
Vertical farms operate with much higher humidity and lose much less water through transpiration than trees grown in polytunnels and glasshouses.
But Scott said advances in LED light technology were seen as the biggest factor behind the impressive results.
Each tree species is assigned its own unique set of LED lights, which are mathematically adapted to the color spectrum.
“LED technology has reached a tipping point over the years, with efficiency doubling every year,” he said.
‘Stretch them’
There have also been complications to control the trial.
After being planted at FLS’s nursery in Elgin, in the remote Highlands of Scotland, some plants grow too fast, leaving their roots too weak to withstand the wind.
FLS and IGS are now running a new test to reduce growth to ensure plants can develop strong roots.
The ability to adapt the environment for each tree plant has helped researchers overcome such challenges, Scott said.
“You can grow them, dwarf them, you can deliberately stress them to adapt to the outside world. There are many things you can do,” he added. .
He added that each trial yielded better results than the last.
FLS aims to plant about 24 million new trees each year, as demand for plants increases amid efforts to combat climate change.
But the need for rapid tree planting has also increased the demand for high-quality seed, one of the many challenges facing the sector.
