Flower Council of Holland                 Flowers

Basic Material Newsletter Nov 2004

Globalisation of rose growing continues

Leiden, November 2004 – Suppliers of plant material for rose growing depend on substitution and expansion for growth. There is plenty of the latter going on in the African country of Ethiopia.
At the moment the rose growing area in Ethiopia, a country ravaged by many years of bloody warfare, is assumed to be about 40 hectares. Now that peace has returned entrepreneurs are on the lookout for ways of making money once more. Flowers were being grown in Ethiopia even before the war and, in fact, the first flower cultivation projects in Africa were set up at the end of the Sixties in Ethiopia. Nowadays rose growing operations are being set up at great speed. Most of the growers are Ethiopian but some European growers have also set up their ‘stalls’ here, including the Dutch rose growers Linssen from Venlo.
 

Both large and small flowered roses are being grown. The former are planted at high altitudes, 2,600 metres above sea level and the latter at 1,600 metres. This means that the success or failure of rose growing in Ethiopia is completely dependent on choosing the right assortment. Breeders and suppliers of plant material for rose growing can put all their know-how and experience into making rose growing in Ethiopia a success.

The latest developments in Ethiopia represent a further step towards the globalisation of rose growing. In relative terms traditional production countries like the Netherlands and Israel are losing ground to other countries, including some in Africa and South America. As a result development in the Netherlands is more in the direction of supplying know-how and innovative products, such as parental material for floriculture.



Sales of Phalaenopsis still going strong
Leiden, November 2004 – In the past few years the orchid variety Phalaenopsis has seen massive growth. It is already the most popular pot plant in the Netherlands and other varieties of orchid are also benefiting from the success of Phalaenopsis.
In recent years the numbers of Phalaenopsis sold in the Netherlands has steadily increased. Ten years ago sales in the Netherlands amounted to no more than 3 million plants at a price of € 3.51 each. Between 2000 and 2003 alone this number doubled from more than 8 million plants to almost 17.5 million plants. At the same time the average price actually rose from € 4.63 in 2000 to € 4.78 in 2003 reaching an absolute high of € 5.23 in 2002. More than enough reasons for taking a closer look at this flowering houseplant.



The strong growth evidenced by Phalaenopsis has encouraged success with a number of other orchid varieties. For example, Cymbidium, Oncidium, Dendrobium, Miltonia and Vuylstekeara have all benefited from the orchid craze. Only Paphiopedilum and Epidendrum saw a serious drop in sales.

One of the strong points of Phalaenopsis is its fairly steady availability throughout the year. In 1993 there was a distinct peak in December, but nowadays sales are spread out much more evenly. In recent years a great deal of work has also gone into expanding the range. For example one of the most important suppliers of young Phalaenopsis plants for pot culture now offers no less than 80 cultivars. Work is ongoing into the production of different varieties with longer or shorter stems and cultivars for smaller or larger pot sizes. The young Phalaenopsis plants are propagated by tissue culture.

Growing Phalaenopsis as pot plants is not particularly complicated but does involve a number of crucial parameters in terms of climate, potting compost, food and light. In addition – and this is probably most important of all – the cultivation of Phalaenopsis requires a great deal of patience on the part of the grower. The span between pricking out the young plants and supplying plants to the retailer lies between 50 and 60 weeks. During 6 of these weeks the plant has to be cooled to get flowering started. It takes some 2.5 to 3 months after cooling before the plants are ready for sale to the consumer.

Dutch basic material for Zantedeschia more reliable than ever

Leiden, November 2004 – Parental material is inspected during its production and prior to export by bodies including Naktuinbouw, the Flower Bulb Approval Office (BKD) and the Plant Disease Inspectorate. Currently Zantedeschia is still inspected for abnormalities that fall under the heading ‘homogeneity.
Since 2001 basic material for Zantedeschia, more commonly called Calla, has been subject to compulsory approval procedures aimed at enhancing the purity of the parental material. Now a new aspect for approval by the BKD has been added to the list: homogeneity. This heading covers abnormalities such as ‘visible virus’, ‘bushy plants’, ‘elephant ears’ and ‘(genetically) variegated’.

In the case of visible virus the emphasis is on viruses of the potyvirus-group, spread by aphids. Occasionally cucumber mosaic is found in basic material.
Bushy plants have short juvenile leaves shaped like spoons and produce a large number of leaves per tuber. These plants do not flower. Descendants of a tuber that has produced bushy plants will also have this failing.



The term elephant ear is used when a tuber produces only one or two leaves and a thick flower stem. The leaves are arranged incorrectly, feel rough or hard to the touch and are often dull in colour. This is another abnormality that will not disappear in subsequent generations.
In the case of (genetic) variegation, the leaves exhibit clear markings and paler than normal spots. The plants flower normally. Whether this abnormality will be exhibited by subsequent generations is still under investigation.

If the inspecting bodies find abnormalities the plants may not be exported. These new, strict procedures mean that parental material from Dutch exporters is more reliable than ever before.
Test with a new type of plant material for cut Gerbera

It appears to be raining new cultivars for the cultivation of cut Gerbera but not a great deal of innovation is apparent in the field of cultivation. Or should we view the use of so-called spreader plants as an innovation?
Spreader plants are Gerbera plants grown in special trays of 45 plants per m2, instead of 72 plants per m2. They have a more compact, divided structure and a larger root system than standard plants. Although they are smaller than the normal plant material used for the cultivation of cut Gerbera, they are actually at a more advanced stage of development when they are supplied and planted out. These plants are also hardened off better than normal Gerbera plants. This, plus the greater volume of roots makes the spreader plants less susceptible to stress after planting out in the greenhouse. The envisaged result is better production. The higher price for these type of plants, assumed at about 5 eurocent, should more than pay for itself. This is the opinion of the producer of these Gerbera plants, a firm normally involved in the propagation of vegetable plants. Spreader plants have been used in vegetable cultivation for quite some time.

With this new technique suppliers of vegetable plants are attempting to gain a foothold in the propagation of plants for Gerbera cultivation. The attraction of this plan is that the production of Gerbera slots exactly into a period when no plants are being produced for vegetable cultivation.

A number of tests have been carried out this year by various Gerbera growers so that good comparisons could be made. The Gerbera growers now need to keep an eye out for the results of these tests.


Business News

Aalsmeer, November 2004 – Mr. Peter van der Weijden has taken up a position with the Hilverda Group (www.hilverda.nl), where he will be involved in the management and control of licensing agreements, as well as in combating illegal activities concerning the propagation, trade and import of all products produced by the Hilverda Group. This group consists of the breeders Hilverda (carnation, Alstroemeria, Limonium, rose) and Florist De Kwakel (Gerbera and Anthurium). Van der Weijden was formerly employed by Fides Goldstock Breeding (FGB), where he had a similar function.

Aalsmeer, November 2004 - Florema Young Plants in Aalsmeer (www.florema.nl) recently launched Impatiens New Guinee Odyssey on the market. The Odyssey series will shortly be expanded to include a total of 8 varieties. The current varieties are Parnassus (two-coloured), Achilles (pinkish red) and Argos (salmon). In 2005 these 3 will be accompanied by 5 varieties: Olympus (three-coloured), Hermes (dark red), Calypso (orange), Nestor (lilac) and Corinth (orange). This Odyssey series will provide a good alternative to the existing New Guinee.

Aalsmeer, November 2004 – In 2003 sales at Dekker Chrysanten in Hensbroek grew by more than 11%. Dekker Chrysanten, one of the leading breeders and propagators of Chrysanthemums in the world, reported a record breaking result for 2003. Total sales amounted to € 25 million (+11%; sales in 2002, € 22.5 million). Sales in the Netherlands rose by 8%, while sales abroad increased by more than 25%. Dekker Chrysanten sold a total of 400 million cuttings. In 2003 the company made investments of almost € 2.5 million, specifically in process automation (sticking robots and automatic guided vehicles / AGVs), computer software and expansion of the greenhouse capacity in the Netherlands and overseas (320,000 m2 in 2003). More information is available on the Dekker Chrysanten website (www.dekkerchrysanten.nl).






 

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