Over a hundred years ago, John Pouw's grandfather grew vegetables and tulips in the little village of De Kwakel, near Aalsmeer, open air. When, at night, it would freeze "we set many small fires to help protect the gherkins and beans. We had the idea that smoke would help. Well, we were running around, from one fire to the next, as the wind was constantly changing direction. My neighbor had decided to stay in bed. No problems for him; with the changing wind the smoke blew to his field" (Jan Pouw's memoirs, 1979). According to Pouw from breeding company Viking Roses, today we see the same 'technique' used by Colombian growers in their plastic greenhouses.
Grandpa Jan then switched to flowers, "of course chrysanthemums", and from open air to 'roll on-roll off' greenhouses that moved on rails. His sons built some of the first greenhouses for roses that were transported in big green wooden chests and auctioned on boats pulled through the 'old auction' Bloemenlust in Aalsmeer, remembers Pouw. "Those were the days".
Resilience
Pouw argues that the sector's approach to recent crises show that this spirit of resilience is still there.
"At times I feared for the survival of the Dutch floral tradition. For example, after managing a ralstonia crisis in roses, followed by corona, I was afraid that the end of Dutch horticulture was there when the energy crisis struck in 2022. Koen turned down the heating and turned off the lights in the greenhouse where we had our Viking trials and we moved to Kenya."
'Rosa Loves Me With Fatal Attraction', produced in the Netherlands
Photo credits: Viking Roses
However, at a later stage he was positively surprised by the resilience of the sector. "Many producers limited their energy use, but refused to give up, returning to old-style seasonal production and switching to 'low-energy' varieties. I was amazed that two growers wanted to and then planted our Rosa Loves Me® With Fatal Attraction, and others asked for varieties to test. I felt ashamed for losing faith in my countrymen, in my grandpa's running around at night, very symbolically lighting fires to protect his crop."
'Rosa Loves Me With Fatal Attraction', produced in the Netherlands
Photo credits: Viking Roses
Towards the future
Experiences like these made him firmly believe in the 'power of innovation'. "The Dutch are a creative bunch. Building windmills, they created a big part of their country, below sea level. Despite being one of the most densely populated countries on the planet, the Dutch are international top exporters of dairy products, including meat, and flowers and plants. Strict rules and regulations also didn't prevent them to invent heated greenhouses, light assimilation, shading, water recirculation, biological control, cameras, greenhouse drones, bringing in AI and more." He finds that this inventiveness will navigate the horticultural industry through challenging times, and will help to address the issues of reducing companies' carbon footprint and plastic flowers.
For more information:
Viking Roses
John Pouw
[email protected]
www.VikingRoses.com