YOUR INDUSTRY
GELLERT NURSERIES EXPANDS IN CHALLENGING TIMES Geoff Lewis
Photography; Trefor Ward The covered crop vegetable industry underwent massive growth in the 1990s but has been pretty static since, Steve says. But what has gone ahead in a big way has been interest in leafy greens, strawberries, blueberries and protected kiwifruit. The site currently has 3.2ha under glass and is almost full. Steve has one new 8200 sqm glasshouse to go, with builders planned on-site in March. Around $3 million worth, it is currently lying on site wrapped in its import packaging. “I have a whole brand-new greenhouse in bits. Our current glasshouses are manually operated systems, but the new glasshouse will be computer-controlled and fully automated with 900 x 4.5/2m (seedling) tables moved by two robots. All the grower must know is how to input information.“ This will reclaim space for Gellert’s vegetables operation, which is all on precision-built concrete ’ebb and flood’ floors.
Horticultural propagators are an essential first step in the highly productive glasshouse and covered growing industry and are impacted by labour, Covid-related import challenges and, critically for indoor horticulture, energy supplies. Gellert Nurseries at Karaka was established in 1988 on 6ha of what was the family dairy farm in the ’dark days’ of growing in soil. Director Steve Gellert and wife Gillian bought the operation from his parents. At one time out in the country, it now faces burgeoning urban development just over the fence. Gellert Nurseries is one of the two largest growers of seedling plants in the New Zealand horticultural industry. A little over half the business is providing millions of tomato, capsicum, aubergine and, until recently, cucumber seedlings in dozens of varieties, to other glasshouses and covered growing operations nationwide. Included in the output are new varieties of kiwifruit in contract trials for Zespri and Plant and Food Research. Gellert Nurseries is also a massive supplier of popular indoor pot plants and orchids, all for the domestic market.
Cucumber production has been hit by a disease, which is thought to be an agrobacterium which creates ’beaded roots’ and stunts the growth of the plant. “No one has been able to figure out what it is so far. It was a tough decision to go out of cucumbers. We announced it to the industry last year and we’re still trying to find a solution.
Gellert Nurseries is one of the two largest growers of seedling plants in the New Zealand horticultural industry In propagation, the aim is to provide a consistent highquality product at a competitive price, on time, all year. There are two major players nationally, Gellert and Zealandia, and it is a very competitive industry, Steve says. At Karaka, the seedling plants are grown in a rockwool substrate which acts as a medium and conduit for water and nutrients. Gellert is an agent for the Cultilene brand of substrate. But the trade has been impacted by Covid-19 delays. “We would normally bring in 120 containers (of substrate) from Europe. Growers use slabs in greenhouses. But due to shipping disruptions, importation has turned to custard.”
NZGROWER : APRIL 2022 11
