NL: 'Progress being made in growing chrysanthemums on water'

According to Vertify, this year, they made a lot of progress with chrysanthemums in the project 'Future-proof cut flower cultivation on water'. Project leader Jasper Schermer sees this confirmed in the reactions of BCO members. "Last year we saw yellowing," he says. "After some adjustments to the climate, we are seeing excellent growth without yellowing this year. Growers are really enthusiastic, so I expect a lot of interest in this trial."

The project 'Future-proof cut flower cultivation on water' explores the possibilities for making (currently) soil-based cut flower cultivation more sustainable. Cultivation in closed-water systems eliminates the emission of fertilizers and crop protection products to the soil and groundwater. In addition, it makes soil disinfection via energy-intensive steaming completely unnecessary. Chrysanthemum, Matricaria, and Lisianthus have been selected as example crops. Good cultivation results are a necessary precondition for acceptance and scaling up in practice, as stated by the Vertify team.

No yellowing, good growth
The exploration is taking place at Vertify in Zwaagdijk and partly through practical tests at growers. This year, the focus at Vertify was on chrysanthemum. Last year, this crop was still struggling with yellowing and moderate growth. At Vertify they find that research into the right climate conditions has yielded many results. "We started monitoring the crop with the help of sensors," says project leader Jasper Schermer. "The research into the climate conditions, in combination with the use of sensors, has allowed us to fine-tune the climate. Yellowing is now a thing of the past and growth is going well. The BCO members are quite impressed."

Good branch structure, speed, and flower quality
The researcher expects a lot of interest in the trial. "Growing in the ground is at odds with the emission requirements that growers will have to meet in a few years," he explains. "Moreover, steaming costs a lot of energy and money, while cultivation is also not possible then. Growing on the water is an attractive prospect in that respect, provided that the production and branch quality are good. In that respect, we have made significant progress this year by improving the greenhouse climate. Growers are really enthusiastic about the branch structure, the full crop, and the cultivation speed. The flower quality and branch weight are also not inferior to those of soil cultivation. It would be great if we could take the step towards practical application with this important crop next year, as we did last year with Matricaria."

If you wish to view the project page, you can do so by clicking here.