Plant Empowerment consultant Paul van Gils has had an exceptionally busy yet rewarding year collaborating with fellow Plant Empowerment consultant Remy Maat to produce our dynamic white paper, The Influence of Coatings on Irrigation, and its accompanying podcast on light and irrigation. In this interview, Paul discusses these projects alongside his broader experiences as a global Plant Empowerment consultant.
Meet the consultants
Paul van Gils
Published: January 15, 2026
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Using Podcasts and new media to teach the Plant Empowerment philosophy
The Plant Empowerment Foundation shares its philosophy through various engaging formats, ranging from traditional in-person workshops to digital e-books and webinars. Among our most recent innovations is the introduction of podcasts, a medium that is already proving highly effective. Paul proudly notes that “a lot of growers are listening to our podcasts while driving. We are seeing that a lot.”
Paul, a consultant for Lumiforte, explains that he and Remy Maat, a consultant at Saint-Gobain Cultilene, co-wrote The Influence of Coatings on Irrigation white paper and were inspired to launch their informative and entertaining four-part podcast series on the same topic last summer.
Listen to the podcast More information about the whitepaper“This first Plant Empowerment podcast series was so fantastic that when Remy and I were discussing what we could add to our white paper we agreed to produce a podcast too. So, we created an informative podcast on light and irrigation, with each episode covering a different chapter of our book.”
Understanding the link between glasshouse light and irrigation strategy
Whilst reading and listening, growers are reminded that the Plant Empowerment way of growing focuses on three steps:
• maximising photosynthesis to “empower” the plants to produce well,
• utilising inputs as efficiently as possible to control the plants’ climate, and
• keeping the plants’ assimilates (sugars) in balance.
To successfully produce commercial horticulture crops in this way, it’s crucial for growers to fully understand the influence that light has on both the greenhouse climate and the grower’s water strategy, explains Paul. “A lot of people forget that if they change the light, they also have to change the water strategy.”
“Growers know, for example, that radiation warms up plants, but sometimes they forget that when the plants are getting warm, their crop is going to have to work harder to obtain the water from its roots. So, growers then need to adjust their water strategy. So, it’s been interesting and enlightening for them to learn more about how radiation, leaf temperatures, and water uptake interrelate.”
Paul has expert knowledge on light because Lumiforte produces a wide range of coatings that are applied to the outer side of the glasshouse. These coatings optimise the glasshouse’s climate by filtering out the infrared light (thermal radiation) and therefore allowing the plants to better utilise the PAR light, which aids photosynthesis.
“Our goal with the coatings is to change the incoming light and therefore make the production of commercial glasshouse-grown crops easier – to ultimately enable growers to produce better-quality crops with better water use efficiency. The coated glass is like an expanding oil spot – its benefits gradually expand into all aspects of the crop’s production.”
Global collaboration and innovation in sustainable horticulture
Whether they’re logging into our online resources or listening to our podcasts in their cars, the fact that growers all over the world are already familiar with Plant Empowerment is undoubtedly one of the foundation’s greatest achievements since its formation some seven years ago, notes Paul.
“As a consultant for Plant Empowerment I travel a lot – visiting growers all over the world. Some of them are located in remote areas and so I have to travel for four or five hours to reach them. And when I arrive, they’re always so happy to see me, and make time for me, simply because I’m a Plant Empowerment consultant. Every one of them has found Plant Empowerment really helpful in their own way – applying bits and pieces of the philosophy according to their own circumstances.”
Helping growers adapt to rising temperatures and water stress
Collectively, the Plant Empowerment consultants are helping growers to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the sector. Given the world’s changing climate and the need to produce fresh produce and ornamental crops sustainably, water availability is one of these challenges – as are the world’s rising temperatures.
“We found that we have a really big issue in that, because of climate change, the flower temperatures of tomato plants are getting warmer, but the pollination only works well when the flowers are less than 28-30°C. So, in southern countries in particular, growers have been observing that the bees have not been flying when the temperatures are higher than 30°C.
And so, we’re advising growers on how to adjust the microclimates in the head of the plants to lower their flower temperature by using a coating on the outside of a greenhouse.”
Future trials and collaborations: Optimising greenhouse microclimates
One of Paul’s projects for this year will see Lumiforte working with Koppert to carry out trials and deliver presentations on how bees fly better when the temperature of the flowers are lower.
Paul also plans to work with new Plant Empowerment partner Signify to highlight the beneficial ways in which artificial lighting creates light in winter whilst coatings decrease the light during the summer. Moreover, Paul is in discussions with Svensson about producing a white paper that discusses the benefits of using climate screens and coatings together.
During his international travels as a Plant Empowerment consultant, Paul has observed the field of horticulture generally become more high-tech – be that the influence of climate screens, the use of more sensors and artificial lighting, or an increased focus on data.
However, he has also observed regional differences in commercial growers’ approach to the production of glasshouse-grown crops. Growers in some regions, for example, may have sensors but they do not have state-of-the-art climate control computers. Others may be more focused on cost savings than deploying the latest technology.
“The Plant Empowerment philosophy is the same, but the way people work with it is different everywhere. And so, as consultants, we constantly need to adjust our perspective depending on the location. But the combined knowledge of the Plant Empowerment Implementation partners and its member companies, as well as the foundation’s extensive and varied learning resources, enable us to help these growers to confidently steer their businesses into the future.”
Paul suggests that those who are new to the Plant Empowerment philosophy and keen to find out more could initially reach out to one of the consultants from Plant Empowerment implementation partners or partner companies. He also advises those growers who are just beginning their Plant Empowerment journey to “start by taking small steps.”