Growing tasty tomatoes and crispy cucumbers without daylight

May 5th, 2021

Pioneering the next step in indoor crop cultivation, we teamed up with RIAT, an innovative farming enterprise in Russia, to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and 19 types of green crops in a farm without daylight.

Stretching over an area of 4,500 m² – which is more than half the size of a standard soccer pitch – RIAT, an innovative farming enterprise located in Russia, already had a large enough growing facility.

But the facility was missing a key component: it didn’t have any windows. The Green Revolution has come a long way since the 60s, now with a high-quality lighting system it’s possible to grow crops without sunlight.

During the research phase in 2019, RIAT achieved a yield comparable to advanced traditional greenhouses using Philips GreenPower LED grow lights. With the mix of Philips GreenPower LED toplights and Philips GreenPower LED interlights the light comes in both from the top and right into the canopy where the light for photosynthesis is needed most.

As Vladimir Bukharev, Director at RIAT, says “As our building had no windows, we needed a high-quality lighting system to fulfil the intensive lighting requirements of tomatoes and cucumbers."

RIAT can also tailor the light recipes to the specific needs of the different crops – from a variety of lettuces to herbs, cucumbers, radishes, and arugula. This adaptability has helped RIAT to grow high-quality crops and achieve a yield performance that’s comparable to traditional greenhouse operations. “