New Tech Cuts Greenhouse Heat by 10°C Day and Night

Growing food during summer used to mean choosing between heat-damaged plants during the day and disease-ridden crops at night. Now, greenhouse growers have a solution that works 24 hours straight.

Israeli companies Ginegar and DryGair teamed up to create a climate control system that tackles both problems. The partnership combines special greenhouse covering with active air management to protect crops from sunrise to sunset and beyond.

During daylight hours, Ginegar's cooling film acts like smart sunglasses for greenhouses. It blocks the heat-generating part of sunlight while letting through the light plants need for photosynthesis. The results are dramatic: air temperatures drop by up to 10°C and soil temperatures fall by 4°C compared to standard greenhouse covers.

"The result: greenhouse air temperatures drop by up to 10°C, protecting roots and foliage while photosynthesis continues uninterrupted," explains Timna L Buhadana, global account manager at Ginegar Group. Plants stay cool enough to set fruit and flowers instead of aborting them under heat stress.

When the sun sets, a different enemy emerges. Humidity shoots up to 100% in closed greenhouses as temperatures drop, creating the perfect conditions for fungal diseases like botrytis and powdery mildew.

That's where DryGair's dehumidification system takes over. It pulls moisture from the air, circulates it through the crop canopy, and can even cool the greenhouse at night.

"Effective dehumidification combined with good air movement can largely prevent botrytis, since the pathogen depends on prolonged leaf wetness and high humidity to develop," says Shabtai Cohen, Chief Agronomist at DryGair. The system also lowers nighttime temperatures, which reduces plant stress and improves flowering in heat-sensitive crops.

The Bright Side: The beauty of this solution is its accessibility. Both technologies work in common plastic greenhouses without requiring expensive rebuilding. For farmers watching their growing seasons shrink as summers get hotter, this means they can keep producing instead of shutting down during peak heat.

Growers who've adopted the combined approach report direct improvements in crop quality and significant reductions in disease pressure. The uniform air circulation eliminates hot and humid pockets where problems typically start.

The partnership reflects a growing trend in agriculture: connecting complementary technologies to solve complex problems. Ginegar created its G-Tech division specifically to bring together innovations that address real production challenges, and DryGair already operates in various greenhouse types worldwide.

For regions facing longer, hotter summers, the system offers a practical path forward: maintain year-round production by controlling the climate minute by minute, from the intensity of noon to the humidity of midnight.