Energy savings, smarter irrigation and biostimulant performance insights at Harry Wubben Flowers.
Harry Wubben Flowers, located in Nootdorp, the Netherlands, has specialized in growing chrysanthemums for over 35 years. Today, the company primarily cultivates Santini chrysanthemums, a variety characterized by its many small blooms on a single stem. The nursery covers a total cultivation area of 60,000 m².
“We were able to reduce the lighting setting from 8 to 5, aligning the lighting with the plants’ actual needs. The impact was already visible within the first few days.”
Harry Wubben, Harry Wubben Flowers
Like many growers, Harry Wubben Flowers relied on experience, visual observations, and climate data to make cultivation decisions. While effective in many situations, these methods could not reveal how the plants themselves were responding to changing environmental conditions in real time.
This created three key challenges:
Limited visibility into plant stress
Young Santini chrysanthemums experienced stress from artificial lighting before any visual symptoms appeared. Without direct feedback from the plants, lighting strategies were based on assumptions rather than the crop’s actual physiological needs.
Irrigation based on estimates
Irrigation decisions were made using climate conditions, substrate measurements, and grower experience. Although these are valuable indicators, they do not reveal whether the plant itself is experiencing stress or actively requires water.
No objective insight into recovery and treatment performance
After events such as high radiation, crop protection applications, or changing weather conditions, it was difficult to determine how quickly plants recovered. Likewise, the effectiveness of biostimulants could only be assessed through visual observations and experience, making objective evaluation challenging.
By continuously listening to the plants’ electrical signals with Vivent Biosignals, Harry Wubben Flowers gained a completely new layer of insight into crop performance, enabling more precise and confident cultivation decisions.
Lighting optimized to plant demand
Vivent’s plant driven insights showed that young plants were receiving more artificial lighting than they actually required. By aligning the lighting strategy with the plants’ real-time physiological needs, the grower reduced the lighting setting from level 8 to level 5. The positive effect was visible within the first few days while simultaneously reducing energy consumption.
Plant driven irrigation
Instead of relying solely on environmental data, irrigation decisions are now supported by direct feedback from the crop itself. This allows irrigation to be applied when the plants actually need it, improving water use efficiency and maintaining a healthier crop.
Objective validation of biostimulants
Vivent Biosignals made the plants’ recovery process measurable. Comparative trials clearly demonstrated that crops treated with biostimulants recovered more quickly after stress events such as spraying or periods of high radiation, providing objective evidence of product performance.
Rather than responding only after visual symptoms appear, growers can now detect stress earlier and make informed interventions before crop performance is affected. This results in healthier plants, greater operational confidence, improved resource efficiency, and more consistent production throughout the growing season.
By integrating plant feedback into daily cultivation decisions, Harry Wubben Flowers was able to align climate control more closely with the actual needs of the crop. Instead of steering solely based on environmental conditions, cultivation decisions were supported by insights into how the plants themselves responded.
Why it matters
This case demonstrates the value of plant-led growing. By gaining real-time insight into plant responses, growers can optimize crop performance while reducing unnecessary use of energy and other resources. Understanding what plants need, when they need it, enables more precise decisions, improved crop quality, and more sustainable production.
Plants know best — and now they can show it.
“Before, we made decisions based on what we thought the plant was experiencing. Now, we can truly measure and understand what the plant is telling us, what it needs, and how it responds.”
Harry Wubben, Harry Wubben Flowers
Fill out the form below or book a meeting directly with one of our team members!
Vivent Biosignals x Harry Wubben Flowers Energy savings, smarter irrigation [...]
Vivent Biosignals x Van Schie x Ledgnd Van Schie prevents [...]
Van Schie prevents winter leaf damage and saves 30% energy through plant driven growing.
Van Schie has built a reputation over 40 years as a specialist in potted lilies. What started as 500 m² of potted lilies has grown over the years into 5 hectares. In 2018, the product range was expanded with Chrysanne®, high-end potted chrysanthemums for the premium segment.
MyLedgnd is a data platform for greenhouse horticulture, developed by the Dutch company Ledgnd. The system combines data from climate computers, sensors, and plant feedback into a single, user-friendly dashboard.
“You’ve been growing based on intuition and experience for years, so it’s quite exciting and a bit daunting to let go of that and start truly steering based on data.”
Marcel van der Voort, Van Schie
During the winter months, Van Schie experienced recurring leaf damage in the lower parts of its chrysanthemum crop. Despite intensive climate management aimed at improving plant quality, the issue persisted. The cultivation strategy focused on stimulating transpiration and activity through additional pipe heating, air movement and ventilation. While these measures were intended to strengthen the crop, plant data revealed the opposite effect. The combination of relatively low light levels and an active climate strategy continuously stimulated growth and transpiration, without providing the plant with enough energy to support that activity.
Using plant feedback sensors from Vivent Biosignals and the Ledgnd (MyLedgnd) data platform, Van Schie discovered that the plants were being structurally overloaded. This insight would not have been visible through climate data alone.
In 2025, a deliberate shift was made to let plant data lead all cultivation decisions. Based on continuous insights from the MyLedgnd platform by Ledgnd, climate strategies were adjusted to better match plant needs. Temperatures were reduced relative to available light levels, humidity corrections were applied more cautiously, and overall the crop was given more physiological rest. As a result, structural leaf damage during the winter period was eliminated.
By combining climate and operational data from Ledgnd with plant feedback signals from Vivent Biosignals, Van Schie gained a much clearer understanding of how the plant responds to light, climate, and steering interventions in real time.
Beyond quality improvements, the data-driven approach also delivered a significant efficiency gain. Energy consumption was reduced by 30%, driven by less intensive use of heating and ventilation systems and fewer unnecessary climate corrections. By avoiding over-control, energy was only used when the plant could actually respond. As a result, cultivation became not only more stable and predictable, but also considerably more energy efficient.
Climate data shows the conditions present in the greenhouse. Plant feedback adds an additional layer of insight by revealing how the crop actually experiences those conditions.
By integrating plant feedback into daily cultivation decisions, Van Schie was able to align climate control more closely with the actual needs of the crop. Rather than steering solely based on environmental conditions, decisions were guided by how the plants themselves responded.
The result was not only healthier plants, the elimination of recurring leaf damage and a 30% reduction in energy consumption, but also a cultivation strategy that became more stable, predictable and efficient.
Why it matters
This case demonstrates the value of plant-led growing. By gaining real-time insight into plant responses, growers can optimize crop performance while avoiding unnecessary use of energy and other resources. A better understanding of how plants respond enables better decision-making, higher crop quality and more sustainable production.
Plants know best — and now they can show it.
“By avoiding overactivation, you prevent energy from being used at times when the plant cannot make use of it. By aligning more closely with the plant’s needs, you can use energy more efficiently.”
Ramon de Vrie, Ledgnd
Fill out the form below or book a meeting directly with one of our team members!
