Floraculture November 2015

W W W . F L OR A C U L T U RE . E U

Protea cultivation in the Azores Frutercoop invests in quality improvement and market recognition

ECUADOR

15th international cut flower trade fair Agriflor sets new records

AUTOMATION

Rising demand for Ellepots in India

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N o v e m b e r 2014

FloraCulture The business magazine for worldwide floriculture

FloraCulture The business magazine for worldwide floriculture

W W W . F L OR A C U L T U RE I N T ER N A T I O N A L . C O M

Guide to IPM ESSEN 2015 After the resounding success of the Guide to IPM ESSEN 2014, the leading international B2B magazine, FloraCulture International is pleased to announce the 2nd edition of its IPM ESSEN (January 27th-30th, 2015) themed supplement .

In its December issue FCI will produce a supplement themed on pot plants, cut flowers, market developments, trends, transport, automation and innovation. The Guide will show­­ case the very best of the world’s leading trade show and the all that the ornamental horticulture and gardening industry has to offer.

Editorial includes a comprehensive overview of the IPM ESSEN show, tips to find specific products, many interesting company profiles as well as a floor plan and exhibitor listings.

IPM ESSEN has become one of the world’s leading horticultural trade fairs, and as supplement in the December issue of FloraCulture Inter-

national, the Guide to IPM Essen will be distributed in print and online to over 104,000 readers.

The editorial staff of FloraCulture International will ensure that this special trade show supplement will be developed with the same dedication and professionalism as seen in the monthly magazine, which in circulated in 142 countries.

The Guide offers an unique opportunity to promote your company and your product. By advertising in this special you will attract more visitors to your booth. Attached is a summary with the promotional options including rates and formats.

For more information contact the FCI TEAM Jaap N. Kras jaap@floracultureinternational.com +31 (0) 653 241 121 Hedd Alwyn Hughes hedd@floracultureinternational.com +31 (0) 622 165 220 Angie Duffree angie@floracultureinternational.com +31 (0)297 769 095 TheGuidetoIPMESSENisthesoleinitiativeofFCIand in no way part of any IPM partnership.IPM ESSEN is notresponsiblefortheselection,structuraldesignand layout of the Guide to IPM. It is FCI who has taken the initiativeandassumedtheriskofallocatingthesubstantialinvestmentsaimedatcreatingtheGuidetoIPMEssen.However,permissionhasbeenrequestbyFCIand grantedbyIPMfortheproductionandpublicationofthe Guide to IPM Essen.

W W W . F L OR A C U L T U RE I N T ER N A T I O N A L . C O M

Floraculture International encourages the pursuit of joint activities in areas of mutual interest with national and international societies, companiesandorganisations.

Agreements have been reachedbetweenFloraculture International and leading growersandtradeassociations in 24 countries. This unique partnership includes a complimentary copy for each member of the registered associations. Floraculture International is proud to announce the cooperation with the following associations.

For more FCI partners see page 34.

FCI’s newest partner this month:

Partners of FloraCulture International

Table of Contents

November 2014 Volume 24 Number 11

Quality roses from Ecuador The 15th international cut flower trade fair Agriflor took centre stage at Quito’s Cemexpo convention centre, October 1-4. Total registration of 3,000 soared past the last edition of the show as it achieved the highest attendance in history. The show also set new records for exhibit space and number of exhibitors.

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by Alicja Cecot

First Sustainability Report

Klasmann-Deilmann is the first substrate manufacturer in the world to publish a comprehensive report of the climate impact of its products. from our own correspondent

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Frutercoop drives protea cultivation in the Azores

Keen eyes will spot important protea plantationsamidthelushgreenmeadows in the Azores. The epicentre of protea growing is the island of Terceira with Fruter/Frutercoop being one of the key drivers.

by António Domingues

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A treasure trove of rare wild tulip images

Tulip lovers have a new website to explore: www.tulipsinthewild.com features a firstever online glimpse of images of rare wild tulip species in their remote mountain native habitats.

by Sally Ferguson

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RISING demand for Ellepots in India

Rise n’ Shine Biotechnology Pvt. Ltd., India’slargestbiotechnologycompanycarries outpropagationworkfortheworld’sleading companies in commercial floriculture. In addition, they produce about ten million banana plants a year from tissue culture.

Recently, the company conducted trials using 40mm Ellepots for a single phase acclimatization process. This has now been adoptedasstandardprocedurewithresults sosatisfactorythatcarnationandgerberaare also propagated using Ellepots.

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by John Sutton

Getting to the root of dieback in Lisianthus

Departments FCI’s international partnerships World News International Events Advertising Index

4 11 25 35

Columns From the editor Miami Certifiable in California Happy Gardening Buon Giorno

07 15 21 27 31

Lisianthus is an exquisite and delicate flower. The multi-million dollar pot plant and cut flower businesses that it supports globally, attest that consumers all over the worldareattractedtothisbeautifulflower.

Transplants are equally delicate and produced by specialist nurseries, making this a high value crop, where yield and quality is critical to ensure profitability.

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by Louise Labuschagne

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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FloraCulture The business magazine for worldwide floriculture

‘Concordiaresparvaecrescunt’ Editorial & Administration Offices FloraCulture International Hedd Alwyn Business address: ECA Office 140-21, Legmeerdijk 313, Hughes 1431 GB Aalsmeer Postal address: Postbus 1081, 1430 BB Aalsmeer T (31) 297 769 095 Circulation Administration: FBW Woerden P.O. Box 612, 3440 AP Woerden, the Netherlands T (31) 34 84 31 393 E info@fbw-woerden.nl Angie Duffree Editors: Ron van der Ploeg (ron@floracultureinternational.com) Editorial team: Chris Beytes, Lotte Bjarke, Alicja Cecot, Aldo Colombo, Arturo Croci, Audrey Gerber, Marie-Françoise Petitjean, John Sutton and Jennifer Zurko.

Founding editor: Debbie Hamrick Publisher: FloraCulture International (jaap@floracultureinternational.com) Printer: SDA Print+Media Designer: Finnmedia, Aryen Bouwmeester Copy correction and sub-editing: Vanessa Heinrich Cover photograph: Fruter/Frutercoop.

Advertising Sales Offices

Dr. Sun Jing Xian

Niranjan Deshpande

Europe, Africa, Asia/Pacific International Accounts Management: FloraCulture International, Business address: ECA Office 140-21, Legmeerdijk 313, 1431 GB Aalsmeer Postal address: Postbus 1081, 1430 BB Aalsmeer, the Netherlands T (31) 297 769 095 M (31) 62 21 65 220 Hedd Alwyn Hughes (hedd@floracultureinternational.com) Angie Duffree (angie@floracultureinternational.com) Italy, Southern France: Arturo Croci, (acearturo@yahoo.it) Scandinavia: Lotte Bjarke (post@lottebjarke.dk) LB Text & Idé, Søndervej 10, 8350 Hundslund, Denmark T (45) 21 48 75 30 USA, Canada, Central America: Paul Black (pblack@ballpublishing.com) Ball Publishing, 622 Town Road, PO Box 1660, West Chicago, IL 60186, United States T (1)6 30 23 13 675 F (1)6 30 23 15 254 Miami:WilliamArmellini(william@floracultureinternational.com) China: Dr Sun Jing Xian (consultingflower@yahoo.com.cn) India: Niranjan Deshpande (team@kisan.com) T (91) 20 302 52 000

From the editor

by Ron van der Ploeg

Interesting news comes from Ecuador where the 15th edition of the Agriflor trade exhibition drew to a close on October 4th. Total registration of 3,000 soared past the last edition of the show as it achieved the highest attendance in history. The show also set new records for exhibit space and number of exhibitors. Page 8.

Sitting north-west of Madeira in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 1,500km from Europe and 4,000km from North America, the emerald green islands of the Azores is a popular holiday destination. Keen eyes will not only spot hotels and restaurants, but will also discover important protea plantations amid the islands' lush green meadows. Our correspondent António Domingues travelled to what was once thought to be part of the lost continent of Atlantis to witness how the Frutercoop cooperative drives protea cultivation predominantly on Terceira Island. Frutercoop recently finished the construction of the new central facility for horticulture, fruits, flowers and honey, with a total investment of approximately €3 million, which includes the first infrastructure created in the Azores exclusively for the packaging of flowers. Frutercoop had the support of the Regional Government of Azores and the European Community for the construction and equipment, which shows a commitment to diversification of agricultural production in the Azores. Page 22.

This month, FloraCulture International follows a group of Dutch bulb enthusiasts on a two-decade quest to some of the world’s most forbidding mountain ranges as they find and photograph little-know tulip species in the wild. They discovered the white and yellow Tulipa regelii, an exquisite wild tulip with ground-hugging leaves weirdly ribbed like a radiator, the better to thrive under the growing conditions of the Chu-Ili Mountains (800m/2,600ft) of Kazakhstan where spring days can be searing hot and nights below freezing.

They spotted deep red Tulipa lanata clinging to a rock crevice in the rugged Gissar Mountains (1,300m/4,300ft) of Uzbekistan where “its large flowers wave like scarlet handkerchiefs on the cliffs.” Page 26.

The report from John Sutton from the UK provides a comprehensive overview of the activities of India’s largest biotechnology company, Rise n’ Shine Biotechnology Pvt. Ltd. From its state-of-the-art tissue culture laboratories its exports go to over thirty countries. Propagation work is carried out for some of the best known names in the world of commercial floriculture. In addition, they produce about ten million banana plants a year from tissue culture.

Recently, the company conducted trials using 40mm Ellepots from Denmark for a single phase acclimatization process. This has now been adopted as standard procedure with results so satisfactory that carnation and gerbera are also propagated using Ellepots. Page 28.

Speaking of growing media, Klasmann-Deilmann from Germany is the world’s first substrate manufacturer to publish a comprehensive report on the climate impact of its products. The company’s Sustainability Report contains the Group-wide emission data for 2013, which can be broken down to obtain the figures for the individual growing media. The objective is to reduce the carbon footprint across the entire group of companies and optimise the substrate blends on the basis of sustainable criteria. Page 12.

Follow us on facebook and twitter FloraCulture International (ISSN1051-9076) is published monthly.

Worldwide distribution. ©2014 FloraCulture International magazine.

All rights reserved. No portion of editorial may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.

Publisher is not liable for advertisements using illegally obtained images.

Send address changes to FloraCulture International magazine, Postal address: Postbus 1081, 1430 BB Aalsmeer, the Netherlands.

Ron van der Ploeg, editor ron@floracultureinternational.com

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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Agriflor The 15th international cut flower trade fair Agriflor took centre stage at Quito’s Cemexpo convention centre, October 1-4. Total registration of 3,000 soared past the last edition of the show as it achieved the highest attendance in history. The show also set new records for exhibit space and number of exhibitors.

Quality roses from Ecuador

F

or four days, Quito (awarded the prestigious World Travel Awards trophy for South America’s Leading Destination in 2013) was the central meeting place for industry professionals from almost 40 countries on 5 continents. Show organisers of the biennial (since 2004) event, the Association of Producers & Exporters of Ecuadorian Flowers, Expoflores and HPP Exhibitions Ecuador dubbed Agriflor 2014 “the greatest success in its 23-year history”. The show earned such a good rating as it hosted over 200 exhibitors showcasing an exhaustive range of cut flowers and services to over 3000 buyers. The mood was upbeat and good business was done.

Number one rose show

by Alicja Cecot

At the official opening ceremony, both the Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Trade, Mr. Francisco Rivadeneira and the mayor of Quito, Mr. Mauricio Rodas stressed the importance of the event and Ecuador’s floral industry as a whole. In

Agriflor’s official opening ceremony. Pictured left to right are Alenjandro Martinez, Francisco Rivadeniera, Mauricio Rodas, Benito Jaramillo and Dick van Raamsdonk.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

Rosa Explorer.

his official speech the chairman of Expoflores, Benito Jaramillo called Agriflor “the number one rose show worldwide”. The general manager of HPP Exhibitions, Dick van Raamsdonk added that the event was “one of the most important floricultural fairs in the world”.

Accordingtotheorganisersmost visitors came from the USA, Europe and South America. Russians, who are typical buyers of thehighestquality,largeheaded, long stemmed, most expensive roses, were present in a lesser number, which was attributed to the FlowersExpo fair held in Moscow only two weeks earlier, hosting an impressive Ecuador pavilion.

Rose breeders

The world’s leading rose breeders were on hand to showcase popular red varieties such as Freedom, the number one cultivar in South America and bred by Rosen Tantau. The red Explorer rose, which was introduced by Interplant Roses B.V. a few years ago is also highly appealingtoconsumersworldwide.

The breeders introduced several novelties,someofthementeringthe show’s quality competition. In the category “Best Rose Breeder” D.R. Ecuador Roses won the Platinum prize for its Grey Knights variety, while NIRP Ecuador earned Gold with 3D. Silver went to Hilsea Investments, who presented ESM R186 and Bronze was won by Olij Ecuador with Boulevard.

In the Best Rose Grower competition, the Platinum prize was presented to Ecoroses with the variety Lemonade, Gold was there for Rosaprima with Black Pearl, Silver for Altaflor with Paloma and Bronze for Rose Connection with Wild Tapaz.

The category “Best Cut Flower Breeder” (comprising all crops except roses) was dominated by alstroemerias. Hilsea Investments Ltd, a division of the Esmeralda Group, earned three prizes, Platinum, Gold and Silver with respectively Alstroemeria Symphony Bonita, Symphony Lilac Kiss and Symphony Dream Line. Könst Alstroemeria received Bronze for Charisma.

CommentingonEcuadorianbreeding issues, NIRP shareholder and CIOPORA president, Mr Andrea Mansuino said that Ecuador still facesplentyofintellectualproperty challenges. “However, we work hard and are positive about the future,” he concluded.

Next to roses all other type of cut flowers can be found at Agriflor.

Agriflor 2014 set new records for exhibit space and number of exhibitors.

current 12% imposed on flowers (while 99% of them are exported).

Phytosanitary agreements with some foreign trade partners of EcuadorarealsoamongExpoflores issues to be solved in cooperation with the government.

Expofloresbelievesinonebigcargo centre for perishables which would speed up the shipment of flowers.

Nowadays, despite the opening of the new airport in Quito in 2012, Ecuadorian exporters complain about the airfreight delays generated by the cargo services.

Another obstacle hindering the

Ecuadorian flower industry, especiallywhencomparedtothe situation in Africa, is the increase in labour costs. The latter is caused by the mandatory rise of salaries, which was imposed by the regulations of the current leftistgovernment.Atpresentthe average labour cost at a flower farm equals, according to Alejandro Martínez approximately $600 per month, which as he estimates is about 5 times higher than in Kenya.

He explained that an average Ecuadorian flower farm employs

Expoflores’ top priorities

Expoflores, which celebrates this year its 30th anniversary, brings together the country’s leading flower growers and has 265 members (i.e. represents approximately 40% of Ecuador’s flower growers).

Expoflores executive chairman Alejandro Martínez said that the reduction of bureaucracy ranked among one of the top priorities of his organisation.

Another key issue is the struggle for the 0% VAT rate, instead of the

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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Agriflor 11 workers per hectare with the turnover equalling $200 000 per month per hectare. In this “rose country”smallerfarms,notexceeding 6 ha are dominant (62%), while the largest – of 36-37 ha – constitute only 10%. In total there are 629 flower farms covering an area of 4,218 hectares.

International marketplace

Ecuador, ahead of Kenya, is the 3rd largestworldexporterofflowers,after the Netherlands and Colombia Kenya has become the major competitor of Ecuador, especially on the European flower market, which is characterized by significant demandforcheaperroseswithsmaller heads than those typical for the production on Ecuadorian highlands. Nevertheless, the EU is the 3rd most important destination for flowers from Ecuador (17% of the total export by value in 2013). The 2nd place belongs to Russia (23%).

Russia’s entry into the WTO in 2012 resulted in significantly lower duties on flowers. The US have remained the main export destination for Ecuadorian flowers (41%), showcasing,however,adownward trend.

The market share of Ecuadorian flowers in the US (where Colombian flowersprevail)becomesincreasingly smaller due to higher tariffs: since

Kordes showcased spectacular roses.

Industry association Expoflores revealed its top priorities for the coming year.

August 2013 flowers imported from Ecuador to the US have been the subject to 6,8% duties (instead of 0%), after the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act as well as the Generalized System of Preferences expired.

On the contrary, last July the free trade agreement was finally signed between the EU and Ecuador. In consequence, the preferential zero tariffs for its agricultural products entering the EU have been extended, ending the fears of the Ecuadorian floricultural industry members.

Apart from the 3 main export destinations Ecuador develops ‘blooming’ trade relationships with other countries such as Brazil, South Korea, China, Japan and Australia.

Floricultural crops

Roses have been traditionally the principal floricultural crop (at present they occupy 65% of the total area devoted to such production) as well as the symbolic export commodity of Ecuador. Their share in the general flower export has grown considerably since the 90s,

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

whentheindustrystartedtoboom.

On the other hand, the importance of other crops has changed.

Over the past 25 years orchids and carnations have lost their strong position while the market share of Alstroemeria and Gypsophila has increased (respectively, 3% and 9% of the exports in 2013). According to Alejandro Martínez Ecuadorian gypsophila, grown in the open on an estimated area of 250 ha, generatesnolessthan70%ofworld production of this crop. More and more often it is accompanied

by Hypericum, which has been gaining the role of the second most important Ecuadorian flower, as Mr. Martínez explains.

He emphasizes the growing importance of floricultural goods in the global Ecuadorian exports and points out that as far as non-petroleum commodities are concerned flowers currently generate 12% of the exports. Alejandro Martínez concludes that focusing on quality istheproperstrategyforthefurther development offlower production in Ecuador and for strengthening its international positon. |||

World News Russia New greenhouse complex in Kaluga nears completion The construction of a new-build 20 ha greenhouse in Russia’s Kaluga area nears completion . Agro-Invest has commissioned Dutch hothouse builder Dalsem to build a state-of-the art greenhouse complex serving to produce tomatoes and cucumbers.

Located 300 km south west of Moscow the Kaluga greenhouse project covers a total area of 238 ha of which 20 ha are now near to completion. It is part of the local government’s plans to diversify the local economy to become self-sufficient in greenhouse vegetable production in the future. Agro-Invest opted for Hoogendoorn, a Dutch supplier of climate and automation solutions in horticulture, because of their flexibility, reliability and user-friendly software.

The greenhouses are designed for the production of 10 hectares of tomatoes and 8 hectares of cucumbers. One hectare will be dedicated to the propagation of young plants and seedlings and another hectare to the cultivation of herbs. The greenhouses are fitted with systems for heating, high pressure fogging, roof sprinkler system, substrate-irrigation, substrate cultivation, CO2 dosing, overhead (1000W), and intermediate (250W) lights and screens.

The propagation and herb areas are equipped with aluminum rolling benches, and ebb and flood irrigation. The energy building is equipped with four Rolls Royce Gensets of each 9,285MWe. Two of these Gensets are equipped with selective catalytic reactors for the production of CO2. Additionally, this building is equipped with four hot water boilers with a capacity of 11.6MWth each.

Besides the greenhouses, Dalsem also builds the industrial premises with the complete installation of the water utility room, cold rooms, offices and the loading and discharge section. The collection of rainwater and reuse of drainage water and purification of well water are included.

The climate computer plays an important role in the control of all processes in the 20-hectare business. Dalsem and Agro-Invest made a conscious choice for the Hoogendoorn climate computer

Two heat storage tanks are built on site.

iSii to manage every aspect, from climate to irrigation and energy.

The most important reasons are the flexibility, reliability and user-friendliness of the system.

On one hand it is very easy to switch languages quickly. This allows the Dutch crop advisor

and the Russian manager to log into the system and adjust the settings, each in their own language. In addition, all settings of the iSii climate computer are flexible configurable, allowing the computer to operate optimally at any given project. |||

The first greenhouse in the background is ready, glazing of second greenhouse is in progress.

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Growing media Klasmann-Deilmann is the first substrate manufacturer in the world to publish a comprehensive report of the climate impact of its products.

Klasmann-Deilmann publishesSustainability Report T

he Sustainability Report contains the Group-wide emission data for 2013, which can be broken down to obtain the figures for the individual growingmedia.Theobjectiveisto reducethecarbonfootprintacross theentiregroupofcompaniesand optimise the substrate blends on the basis of sustainable criteria.

‘We now know where we stand’

from our own correspondent

The carbon footprint data published in the “Sustainability Report 2013” covers the greater majority of all emissions caused by the Klasmann-Deilmann Group in the preceding year. “The figures take into account all the major CO2 sources,” states Managing Director Moritz Böcking.

“It took us two years to calculate the carbon footprint of the entire

Palletised peat bags.

production and logistics chain.

We now know where we stand.”

At Group level, Klasmann-Deilmann was responsible for a total

of 274,485 tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 2013. In relation to the total production quantity of 3.29 million m³ substrates and raw materials, this corresponds to 83.41 kg CO2 equivalents per cubic metre.

Each euro of sales generated 1.71 kg CO2 equivalents, each employee was responsible for just under 300 tonnes of CO2 equivalents.

Sustainable player

Peat is still the most important base material for the production of growing media and has unique physical, chemical and biological properties which are indispensable for modern commercial horticulture.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

“By publishing our carbon footprint, we are acknowledging our responsibility as a leading and sustainable player in the substrate industry,” comments Managing Director Norbert Siebels. “We have not only created a sound benchmarkforcontinuousimprovements, but also promoted objectivity in the debate on the climate impact of peat.”

In order to obtain reliable figures, in particular for its peat production activities, Klasmann-Deilmann commissionedexternalexpertswho

The detailed carbon footprint figures mean that Klasmann-Deilmann can also state the emission figures for each individual delivery of growing media.

vegetable plants, which not only capture CO2, but also help to feed the world’s growing population. Innumerable businesspartners,horticultural companiesandconsumersthe world over all benefit from substrate as an economic and social growth driver.

The detailed carbon footprint figures mean that KlasmannDeilmann can also state the emission figures for each individual delivery of growing me-

dia. If produced in Germany andtransportedby truck tothe centre of France, for instance, Klasmann BP Substrate (698), which is made of black peat, white peat and the wood fibre productKlasmannGreenFibre, has a carbon footprint of 24.52 kg CO2 equivalents per cubic metre.

Ambitious target

Klasmann-Deilmann plans to increasetheshareofalternative raw materials in its substrate

>>>

Quick facts had already conducted scientific studies to measure emissions in degraded bogs. The overall carbon footprint was additionally verified by an independent institute pursuant to ISO 14064.

An economic and social growth driver

“Around 45 per cent of our emissions result from the production of rawpeatmaterials,”explainsMoritz Böcking. However, peat is still the most important base material for the production of growing media

Of the approximately four million km2 of peatland that exist worldwide, 86 per cent is still in a natural state. Over the past few decades, just under ten per cent of that area has been drained for use by agriculture or forestry. The total peat production sites worldwide amount to roughly 2,000 km2, equivalent to 0.05 per cent of the total worldwide peatland.

Peat extraction accounts for seven per cent of the harmful gases emitted from former peatland in Germany, agriculture for 84 per cent.

Intact peatland has been protected by nature conservation laws in Germany since the 1980s. The peat and substrate producers in the European Peat and Growing Media Association (EPAGMA) – which include Klasmann-Deilmann – source their raw materials in Europe exclusively from bogs which are already degraded.

When peat production is discontinued, the sites are restored in accordance with the requirements imposed by the authorities.

Since the 1960s, Klasmann-Deilmann has restored a total of almost 8,000 hectares by re-waterlogging, afforesting or preparing them for agricultural use.

and has unique physical, chemical and biological properties which areindispensableformoderncommercial horticulture. Alternative raw materials such as wood fibres and compost are suitable for commercial horticultural use only if combined with peat if high quality standards are to be maintained.

“The sustainability of peat results from the value added along our substrates’ life cycle,” says Norbert Siebels. “Just one single cubic metre of substrate can be used to grow more than 100,000 young

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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by William Armellini

Miami

Agriflor 2014 (1) I was invited to attend Agriflor 2014 in Quito, Ecuador, where beautiful roses and beautiful women stole the show. Many of the exhibitors hire models to attract potential clients to their booths and this year was no exception. I am told that the ladies are imported from Colombia and Cuba with the explanation that Quito does not have such talent. I take exception to that since I have seen many attractive Ecuadorean ladies who work in the industry. However, I have come to the conclusion that the cosmetic doctors in Colombia must simply be better. I am not certain that the eye candy is necessary to snag clients, but they sure make for good pictures.

Innumerable business partners, horticultural companies and consumers the world over all benefit from substrate as an economic and social growth driver.

production to a total of 15 per cent by the year 2020. “That is an ambitious target,”commentsNorbertSiebels,“but we are determined to optimise our substrateblendsonthebasisofsustainable criteria, and that also means reducing emissions by using reliable alternatives for our horticultural customers.”

The company is simultaneously researching further raw materials, for example in projects for the cultivation of peat moss on former peat production sites. Noticeable success in that area would lead to a revolutionary new base material for growing media which wouldcombinethehorticulturaladvantages of peat, capture CO2 and promote biodiversity.

Over the next few years, KlasmannDeilmann intends to implement variousmeasuresaimedatreducingthe company’s emissions, e.g. at its production plants and regarding its energy consumption. It will also be redoubling its activities in the field of renewable energy and resources, as the resulting positive effects on the climate help to compensatefortheemissionscausedby the company. |||

This is really an international show where all sorts of languages can be overheard while cruising the aisles. The growers all seem to be striving to have a balanced customer list including thirty percent US, thirty percent Russian, thirty percent European and ten percent other. When I put my proverbial ear to the ground, I heard much talk about the growing dominance of the bouquet makers servicing the mass market business. More distressed farms are being bought up by these companies to service the supermarkets and big box clients in the US and abroad. The big are getting bigger and are pulling away from those left behind. In no particular order, the major players are: The Queens Flowers, Passion Growers, Elite Flowers, Sunshine Bouquet, Colour Republic, USA Bouquet, Native Flowers and Encore. This trend is being felt in the wholesale markets as products can become scarce overnight. Take the acquisition of Denmar, the largest spray rose producer,

by Passion Growers as an example and there is little doubt that the wholesale availability and price for sprays has fluctuated accordingly.

The other trend I learned about was that more and more growers are starting plantations in Africa. Peter Ulrich, owner of Esmeralda, who claimed to be taking it easy now that he sold his Miami office, has started a large farm there. Hans Peter Hug, owner of Bellaflor, has also broken ground on a 75 acre plot in Ethiopia. Most of this activity is centred around servicing the European markets, but some products are already entering the US market.

I do not think that the US will ever be more than a minor part of this expansion because of logisticals reasons. However, US cities, that have good passenger airline connections, could see more.

Both exhibitors and visitors at Agriflor welcomed Quito’s new airport. It came as a welcome and pleasant surprise compared with the old one which was situated right in the middle of the city. This new airport is closer to most growers, but not as convenient for passengers since it can take over two hours to get there during business hours. That said, they have built and are building good new access roads and bridges to make the journey more practical.

At the airport, there are new cargo facilities with better refrigeration and logistics. Growers are able to deliver shipments to a reduced amount of buildings housing the cargo agencies. A good example is the formation of the new company, Logiztik Alliance Group that is a partnership between G&G Cargo, TransInternational Cargo, Dial Cargo and Ecucarga. Previously these were all in separate buildings, now they are in one.

William Armellini. Editor Flowersandcents.com williee@flowersandcents.com

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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World News Netherlands

New ABCoop tree growers cooperative focuses entirely on exports A tree grower co-operative in Haaren, Netherlands has plans to capitalise on export markets. Established on September 23rd, 2014, the newly launched ABCoop is owned by nine tree growers from the Brabant area and offers international buyers a one stop shop for an extensive range of trees and shrubs including easy and swift transportation services.

The creation of ABCoop has resulted in the participating companies actively increasing their sales area, particularly towards Germany, France and Switzerland.

The members have come to the conclusion that the number of exporters in the market has decreased. Plus all the founders of this brand new cooperative are already significantly specialised.

This means every individual com-

pany will find it increasingly more difficult to continue to optimally serve the customer – especially where it concerns greater distances. By joining forces the ABCoop members are able to continue their international customers efficiently.

ABCoop, an abbreviation of Arbustum Brabant Cooperative, fulfils a need which will apply to multiple companies. It results in shorter lines with customers,

fast deliveries and optimal logistics. An active sales representative in the export field picks up market signals and translates these back to the business. This has given the new cooperation an important role in the transformation process of working in an even more market focussed manner. ABCoop is managed

by Harm Horlings. For more details, visit www.abcoop.nl ABCoop’s founding members

include Kwekerij Aad Vermeer (Haaren), Boomkwekerij De Spankert (Boxtel), Tricolor Plant (Haaren), Boomkwekerij Gebr.

Van Overbeek v.o.f. (Haaren), Johan van der Mee Boomkwekerij v.o.f. (Haaren), Plantenkwekerij Joost Sterke B.V. (Haaren), Lodders Boomkwekerijen (Wernhout), Boomkwekerij P. Heijms (Oirschot) and P.M. de Jong Boomkwekerijen (Haaren). |||

Italy

New Italian flower industry book

by Arturo Croci and Giovanni Serra Arturo Croci and Giovanni Serra are the first to tell the complete and connected story of the ornamental horticulture and gardening industry in Italy, now one of the most successful flower and plant growing countries in the world. They have sought to recapture the past by writing and publishing a book, "Floricoltura italiana. Storie, uomini, aziende" (Italian floriculture, stories, people and companies) which has just been released through www.mursia.com Croci’s and Serra’s book, greeted with overwhelmingly enthusiastic response when it was launched at Italy’s leading home and garden show Orticolario in Cernobbio on Saturday October 4th , uncovers the appeal of Italian floriculture, its place in history and its essential contributions. Engagingly written, exhaustively researched, and rich in detail, this book describes that the history of the industry goes back as far as the Neolithic period with commercial flower and plant growing emerging in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Kingdom of Sar-

dinia and Liguria in the second half of the 18th Century.

The authors have sought to recapture the past by interviewing the men and women behind a flourishing industry, by visiting many companies. The book provides also a comprehensive overview of the many events, books, magazines, trade shows that have played an important role in the growth of the Italian flower industry over the past decades.

Pictured left to right are Orticolario director Moritz Mantero and authors Giovanni Serra and Arturo Croci. |||

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

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2015

Media Kit

World News United States

AmericanHort gears up for Next Level conference event For the third year, high-level professionals in the horticulture industry are invited to attend Next Level, an elite, three-day conference designed to help owners, CEOs, and upper-level managers learn more about managing the business end of their business.

Next Level will be held February 3-5, 2015 at the Hyatt Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“Next Level brings industry leaders together to participate in business development sessions led by some of the nation's most admired experts and thought leaders,” said Michael V. Gear, CAE, AmericanHort President & CEO. In addition to the structured session, Next Level will offer more casual gatherings designed to help attendees network and learn from peers. Five designated “Hubs” will allow for a deeper dive into issues that matter most to each individual, including Balancing Life and Business, Growing a Job Into a Career, Building the Bottom Line, Reinventing a Business, and Establishing a Legacy. “By the end of the conference, attendees will leave with an easy-to-implement, personalized action plan designed to help their business where it’s needed most,” said Geary.

This year's keynote speaker will be David Zach, a wellknown futurist who balances the funny with the profound while taking the audience on a thought-provoking tour of modern times and what's on the horizon. By the end of his presentation, attendees are able to look to the future with a solid sense of hope and inspiration.

To learn more about the 2015 Next Level conference, visit www.YourNextLevel.org AmericanHort was formed in 2014 by the consolidation of the American Nursery & Landscape Association and OFA – The Association of Horticulture Professionals. With a combined history of 220+ years, AmericanHort supports nearly 16,000 member and affiliated businesses that include breeders, greenhouse and nursery growers, garden retailers, distributors, interior and exterior landscape professionals, florists, students, educators, researchers, manufacturers, and all of those who are part of the industry market chain.

The horticulture industry's production, wholesale, retail, and landscape service components have annual sales of $163 billion, and sustain over 1,150,000 fulland part-time jobs. Our mission is to unite, promote, and advance the horticulture industry through advocacy, collaboration, connectivity, education, market development, and research. The association has offices in Columbus, Ohio for administration and member services, and in Washington, DC to facilitate government relations and research activities. |||

Certifiable in California

by John Ingwersen

Heat wave Mid-September 2014. Another day, another heat wave in California. If this keeps up I’m moving to Somalia or someplace equally cool. Seriously, for those of us who spend our working hours in the outdoors, 106 F (that’s 41 C for those of you on the other side of the pond) in the shade is something less than a picnic. Not to mention that about all you end up doing is running from one end of the nursery to the other watering. The one upside is that whenever I feel like a steam room experience I just grab a towel and turn on the sprinklers in the greenhouses.

Water….ah yes…not even going there in this column. I keep praying (hopefully God is listening), but just to be safe I’m also learning how to perform the traditional Navajo Indian rain dance (those headdresses ain’t cheap). Failing that, I’m also considering commissioning a feasibility analysis on towing icebergs from Alaska.

Apart from all that, things are cruising along relatively smoothly.

Whatever is happening economically seems to be fairly real and fairly stable (and all that with a non-functional government, go figure), and construction, particularly commercial construction, continues to strengthen, which bodes well.

Another clue that things are mostly back to normal is the increased interest in the rare and unusual, be it palms, cycads, etc.. That was one of the first casualties of the recession, and now it’s re-emerged. The problem is that most growers, myself included, stopped bringing in the seed and small plants of what I call the ‘oddball’ stuff…there just wasn’t enough cash flow to justify the expense. You had to focus on core products to survive. It’s unfortunate, because now I could sell all kinds of stuff that I don’t have because I didn’t spend the money I didn’t have in the first place…and it’s not like you can produce material like that overnight.

Cycads, for example, are most definitely a patient man’s game… Moreover, we depend on the seed dealers to supply the raw material, and those guys cut back just like the growers.

The other complicating factor, which I’ve discussed before, is increasing governmental interference in the movement of agricultural goods, much of this driven by less-than-astute environmental science.

The bottom line is that I end up telling a lot of potential customers that I don’t have what they’re looking for, all the while telling myself not to feel too bad because it really wasn’t all my fault. It was Bush’s fault… (sorry, couldn’t resist that one, just too good to miss…)

I wonder if there are any decent restaurants in Mogadishu…

John Ingwersen graduated with a degree in marketing from Georgetown University in 1990, and founded Jungle Jack’s, Inc. in 1995. sales@junglejacksthailand.com

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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22

Proteas

Nature in Terceira Island (Photo credits: Turismo dos Açores).

Keen eyes will spot important protea plantations amid the lush green meadows in the Azores. The epicentre of protea growing is the island of Terceira with Fruter/Frutercoop being one of the key drivers.

by António Domingues

Frutercoopdrivesprotea cultivation in the Azores

P

roteaplantshavebeenknown for some decades in the Azores Islands. The most popular is Banksia integrifolia, not plantedspecificallyasanornamental,butashedgestoprotectbanana orchards against the strong winds.

The first plantations for production of cut flowers for export were established in the 1990’s. This

happened on several islands of the archipelago, with more emphasis on the islands of Terceira and São Miguel. Since then the evolution of this cultivation has been different for each island. It is currently on Terceira Island that the production is more significant. However, on the island of Faial it is still emerging and on São Miguel it has been in decline.

Key drivers

Frutercoop facilities recently completed.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

On Terceira Island Fruter/Frutercoop has driven protea cultivation. It was in 1997 that some of its members established the first fields of protea plants, initiating export in 2000. Since this date that productionhasbeengrowing,with current production of about 1 million stems exported mainly to the Dutch market during the trading period from October to April. With new plantations established in the last two years by the producers of

Frutercoop the expected production could reach 2 million stems by 2016 and 3 million stems by 2018. Product quality has been the major area in which Frutercoop has invested in recent years and it hasbeenqualityimprovementand marketrecognitionthathavedriven the growth of this company.

What are Fruter and Frutercoop?

Fruter is an association that provides support to its members who sell their production through the cooperative Frutercoop. The main goal of Fruter is to promote and disseminate the products of its members, as well as providing technical support services and participation intechnical-scientificresearchwith universities, government entities, foundations and companies linked to this activity.

Frutercoop is divided into several areas of agricultural production, of which fruits, vegetables, flowers

and honey are the most important.

It has 114 members of which 16 belong to the Flower Growers Section representing all production of protea flowers in Terceira Island.

Production is currently over 30 hectares,predominantlycutflowers of Leucospermum, Protea, Telopea and Leucadendron.

Logistics

FlowersaredeliveredtoFrutercoop by its members, being harvested, classified per length and placed in buckets on the farms. Frutercoop manages the accumulation, standardization, quality control, packaging, logistics and export processes.

Flowers are harvested as close as possible to export to maintain freshness during transport and distribution, which implies that there isalargeconcentrationofflowersto pack in the days immediately prior to export. After receipt and quality control of the flowers, these are individuallyhandpackedincartons with a capacity of 0,06 m3. Enough workers are required to pack the flowers quickly and efficiently and this requires space and storage capacityundercontrolledtemperature, mainly for transport by sea.

Initially this work was all done in the existing horticultural facilities established since the founding of Frutercoop, but these soon proved to be too small and inadequate compared to the growth of the flower production and market requirements. Some adjustments

were made during the last six years topacktheflowersbuttherewasno space to grow. Out of this limitation was born an old dream of one day building new facilities that presenttheopportunityforgrowth and improvement. Well … that day has come!

Terceira Island, Monte Brasil (Photo credits: Turismo dos Açores).

A big step for the future of protea export in Azores

Frutercoop recently finished the construction of the new central facility for horticulture, fruits, flowers and honey, with a total investment of approximately €3 million, which includes the first infrastructure createdintheAzoresexclusivelyfor packaging of flowers. Frutercoop had the support of the Regional Government of Azores and the European Community for the constructionandequipment,which showsacommitmenttodiversification of agricultural production in the Azores.

The total area of implementation is 3,405 m2, in which the area designated for storage and packaging is 554 m2 and a common area of 961 m2 for all sectors for administrative services, training, meetings and laboratories. This new structure is ready to receive and pack over 3 million flowers, which is the goal of Frutercoop for years to come. The new space for packing flowers, in addition to allowing growth in this activity, will give an opportunity to implement other ways to pack,

greater storage capacity, as well as newpackagingtypes.Anothermajor advantage of the new facilities is the ability to conduct research in the laboratory investigating cold storage and transport options of the value chain. This was previously very difficult to do in the old facilities.

At a time of great economic constraint in which Portugal is living with a high rate of youth unemploymentintheAzores,floriculture offers an alternative through new investment. These new growers are the foundation of dynamism, prosperity and affirmation for the future. ||| The Azores are a valued member of theInternationalProteaAssociation.

Surrounded by a scenery of green pastures protea flowers bloom with all their splendour in the fields.

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

23

International Events November 2014

January 2015

5 to 6. United States Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo at the Mass Mutual Center,Springfield,Massachusetts. info@negreenhouse.org www.negreenhouse.org

14-16. United States MANTS (Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show) at the Baltimore Convention Center. www.mants.com

5 to 7. The Netherlands International Floriculture and Horticulture Trade Fair at the Haarlemmermeer Expo in Vijfhuizen, the Netherlands. (IFTF-IHTF) www.hpp.nl 5 to 7. The Netherlands FloraHolland Trade Fair Aalsmeer. www.floraholland.com/tradefair 9 to 11. UAE IPM Dubai at the Dubai World Trade Center. ipm@messe-essen.de www.ipm-dubai.com 18 to 20. Cuba II Horticultural Congress Cuba at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in La Habana. congreso@liliana.co.cu www.cubadiplomatica.cu 27 to 29. China IPGEXPO 2014, international pot plant and gardening trade exhibition in Guangzhou. www.ipgexpo.com 27 to 30. Turkey Flower Show Turkey 2014 info@growtech.com.tr www.flowershow.com.tr December 2014 2 to 3. Germany.

Breeders & Young Plant Producers Conference in Rattingen, Germany. info@fleuroselect.com www.fleuroselect.com 2 to 4. United States New York Produce Show & Conference. register@nyproduceshow.com www.nyproduceshow.com 3 to 6. Turkey Growtech Eurasia, international greenhouse,agriculturalequipment and technologies fair in Antalya, Turkey. www.growtech.com.tr 9 to 11. United States Great Lakes, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo and Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo. www.glexpo.com 19-14. KISAN, India’s largest agricultural trade show in Pune. team@kisan.com www.kisan.in

16-25. Germany Grüne Woche, international green week Berlin. The world’s biggest fair for food, agriculture and horticulture. www.gruenewoche.de 20-23. United States Mid Atlantic Short Course at Marriott at City Center, Newport News, Virginia. info@mahsc.org www.mahsc.org 21-23. United States Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE) at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, USA. www.tpie.org 27 to 30. Germany IPM Essen at the Messe Essen. info@ipm-essen.de www.ipm-essen.de February 2015 4 to 6. Germany Fruit Logistica Berlin, the world’s leading trade fair for the fresh fruit and vegetable business. www.fruitlogistica.de 4 to 6. United States New England Grows at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Boston, Massachusetts www.newenglandgrows.com 17 to 19. France Salon du Végétal at the Parc des Expositions in Angers, France. salon@bhr-vegetal.com www.salon-du-vegetal.com 25 to 27. Italy Myplant&Garden, inaugural edition of Milan’s brand new horticulturaltradeshowattheFiere Milano Rho fair ground. www.myplantgarden.com 26-28. Poland Gardenia,nurserystocktradeshow at Poznan’s International Fair. www.gardenia.mtp.pl March 2015 International symposium on Medicinal Plants and Natural Products, Bogotá, Colombia ISMPN2015 Offical dates to be announced yet. www.phytoessence.org

1 to 8. United States 2015 Philadelphia International Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. jliebreich@pennhort.org P (215) 988-8833 www.theflowershow.com 3-12. Taiwan Taiwan International Orchid Show (TIOS) at the Taiwan Plantation in Tainan, Taiwan. info@tios.org.tw www.tios.org.tw 11 to 13. United States World Floral Expo 2015 at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. www.hppexhibitions.com 11-15. Switzerland Giardina, the country’s leading home and garden show at the Messe Zurich convention centre. www.giardina.ch 13-22. Canada CanadaBlooms at Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre & Exhibition Place. www.canadablooms.com 14 to 15. United States The Northeast Floral Expo, the nation’s 4th largest florist trade show, serving the floral industry in New England, New York, New Yersey and beyond. Venue: Mystic Marriott Hotel&Spa in Croton, United States. www.northeastfloralexpo.com 14 to 15. United Kingdom RHS Garden Rosemoor Spring Flower Show. www.rhs.org.uk 14 to 22. United States Chicago Flower & Garden Show at the Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois info@chicagoflower.com P (312) 241-1250 F (888) 845-4148 www.chicagoflower.com

25 to 27. Australia Melbourne International Flower&Garden Show at the Royal Exhibition Building & Carlon Gardens. info@melbflowershow.com.au www.melbflowershow.com.au 31 March to 2 April. Ukraine The organisers of Flowers & HorTech Ukraine, Nova Exhibitions and CoD Exhibitions Ltd., are pleased to inform that the 9th edition of Flowers & HorTech Ukraine will take place from 31 March – 2 April 2015 in Kiev.

The exhibition will, as always, be organised under the patronage of the Flower Council of Ukraine. info@nova-exhibitions.com Contact person: Mr. Kuno Jacobs April 2015 8-12. United Kingdom 17th European Orchid Show and Conference London 2015.

The show will fill the RHS Horticultural Halls in Vincent Square, London with large displays from professional growers, orchid societies and botanical gardens from around Europe. Traders from around the world will be offering their newest hybrids and unusual orchid species. www.rhs.org.uk 11 to 16. United States 2015 California Spring Trials.

13 to 15. Sweden Nordic Flower Expo, MalmöMässan, Malmö, Sweden. Nordics leading trade fair for flowers and plants targeting trade visitors from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Baltic region. www.nordicflowerexpo.com 17 to 19. United Kingdom RHS Flower Show Cardiff www.rhs.org.uk

17 to 19. Thailand Horti Asia at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC). www.hortiasia.net

19 to 24. Italy 6th International Symposium on Production and Establishment of Micropropagated Plants. www.regflor.it/ISHS2015/

20 March- 17 May. The Netherlands The world famous spring garden in Lisse, Netherlands. The 2015 Keukenhof theme will be ‘Van Gogh’, one of Holland’s most famous painters. www.keukenhof.nl

22 to 24. China Hortiflorexpo at Shanghai’s New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). www.hortiflorexpo.com

25 to 27. Ethiopia Hortiflora Expo at the Millenium Hall in Addis Ababa. www.hppexhibitions.com

7 to 10. United Kingdom Malvern Spring Festival. www.rhs.org.uk

May 2015

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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26

Tulip hunters Tulip lovers have a new website to explore: www. tulipsinthewild.com features a first-ever online glimpse of images of rare wild tulip species in their remote mountain native habitats.

A treasure trove of rare wild tulip images T

he site, created by the Amsterdam Tulip Museum and the U.S. bulb seller Colorblends, follows Dutch tulip hunters Eric Breed, Arie Peterse, Marijn van den Brink, Willem Leemers and Sjaak de Groot on a two-decade quest to some of the world’s most forbidding mountain rangesastheyfindandphotograph little-known tulip species in the wild. These modern-day botanical explorers braved threats from extremeweatherandterrain,armed gangsters, wild animals and more.

A collection of their images is visible for the first time online at the new website.

Crete

by Sally Ferguson

The expeditions began in the mid1990s when Dutch bulb expert Eric Breed and his friend, tulip and lily hybridizerAriePeterse,treatedtheir wives to a spring vacation in Crete, the mountainous Mediterranean island famous for its beach resorts.

What they didn’t play up was that Crete is also the only place in the world where a certain rare tulip species might be found.

On Crete the two men left their wives to enjoy the beach and set off to explore the island by Jeep and on foot. Along narrow dirt tracks,

Tulipa kaufmanniana (Photo credits: Arie Peterse).

up rugged mountainsides, they quizzed shepherds and farmers and their wives. Finally, outside a tavern near the mountain village of Spili, a group of men surprised them with their responses. “Some yearsthisflowerblooms,someyears it doesn’t,” they said. “This year it blooms. You want to see it? Fine.

But first we drink raki.”

A short time later, six shots of the high-octanehomebrewfuelednondrinkers Eric and Arie in pursuit of their quarry. The instructions weresimple:crossthestonebridge, follow the creek upstream to a waterfall, search for a fence with a painted sign of a black turkey in front of a steep slope. Start climbing. They did, and there it was: Tulipa cretica, with its soft pink-white flowers blooming in clusters.

Gangsters meet Galanthus

Arie Peterse and Vladimir Kolbintjev.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

Eric and Arie were hooked and quickly planned new explorations to find and photograph rare tulips in the wild. Soon fellow tulip adventurers, Sjaak de Groot, Willem Lemmers, and Marijn van den Brink joined the group. Over the next two decades, the participants

on any given trip varied as they launchedexpeditionstothemountainous regions of Central Asia, the Mideast and China.

Led by local guides, the hunters explored remote ranges of the Himalayan, Caucasus, Tien Shan, Elburz and Pamir mountains of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. In the former Soviet republics, Vladimir Kolbintsjev joined as trusted friend and guide.

Their carefully planned treks relied on sturdy mountain pack horses to traverse exposed steppes, slick glaciers, and narrow mountain paths with precipitous drops. They skirted big cats, bears, wild boars and nervous military patrols.

In a border incident near Chechyna,itwasgangstersmeetgalanthus when Eric and Arie were present at a tense face-off between a World Wildlife Federation representative and a local mafia-type chief.

While the WWF rep negotiated to end trafficking in wild-collected galanthus, also called snowdrops, multilingual Eric and Arie, seeking to ease the mood, warily chatted with the gun-toting thugs who blocked the exit door.

HappyGardening

by Anthony Tesselaar

Stop and think Harsh habitat

Despite their genteel garden image, tulips in the wild are native to harsh landscapes in hardto-reach corners of the world. They’re often found clinging to barren mountain ledges exposed to wind, cold and drought. The contrast of harsh habitat and colourful tulips makes for some breath-taking photographs.

There’s the white and yellow Tulipa regelii, an exquisite wild tulip with ground-hugging leaves weirdly ribbed like a radiator, the better to thrive under the growing conditions of the Chu-Ili Mountains (800m/2,600ft) of Kazakhstanwherespringdayscanbesearinghot and nights below freezing. Deep red Tulipa lanata is seen clinging to a rock crevice in the rugged Gissar Mountains (1,300m/4,300ft) of Uzbekistan where “its large flowers wave like scarlet handkerchiefs on the cliffs.” Tulipa behmiana is shown growing in dry soil near Lake Balkhash (1,000m/3,300ft) in southeastern Kazakhastan. Its hard-skinned bulbs were discovered to have an odd wool-like fur lining thought to protect the bulbs from freezing underground in winter.

Interactive map

The tulipsinthewild.com site features an interactive map where users can click on a region to view the tulips that were photographed there.

Aselectionofexpeditionshotsisincludedplus forty-one tulip images with a description of each flower and where it was found.

The only frustration for many will be the fact that most of the tulips included in the project still exist only in the wild or in a few private collections. So for now, for those unwilling or unabletobravethewilderness,thebestviewof some of the rarest tulips on earth is just a click away, at www.tulipsinthewild.com. For those who wish to grow commercially-cultivated wildornear-wildtulips,www.colorblends.com offers its US customers a fine selection.

I took this shot in a London gallery. Here’s a group of figures all focused in the same direction, but it’s the fellow at the rear who has my attention. Why is he hesitating? What have the others missed? Is he the one with the advantage, because he’s stopped a moment to think?

The other day, I was looking at our new refrigerator and something occurred to me.

The process we went through to buy it was a brilliant example of how everything hangs off a key element in business – service. By service I mean exactly what the Oxford dictionary defines it to be: the action of helping or doing work for someone.

In every business there is a service component. There is service between people working in the same business and there is service between a business and its clients or customers. I function, (well I believe), thanks to the level of service I enjoy from my work colleagues; our business functions, (equally well), thanks to the effort we make to give the people we work with, the best service we can. Most people who provide service soon figure out - if they stop and think - that service brings rewards for everyone. Let me explain by way of my old refrigerator.

Many, many years ago we built our kitchen around a new fridge. Recently, that same fridge began to make a lot of noise, so we thought it would be a good idea to go about the business of buying a replacement before it stopped altogether. Unlike some unfortunate people, we were able to do our research in a relaxed fashion given we didn’t have a defrosting freezer to force our decision-making.

Size was top of our list of criteria, as the space in our kitchen is somewhat limited. Next on the list was the desire to find a model that was efficient.

Reliability (or brand reputation) came next and finally the physical layout was factored in. We visited a couple of stores where we tried to identify the best option for our needs. Staff were friendly but stood back to leave us to our own devices, partly, in one case at least because they didn’t know a great deal about their floor stock. And then we walked into the third store where we were met by someone who offered to help us navigate our options. With this person’s help we were able to limit the number of contenders and focus on the final two.

Of course we could have left the space claiming we needed more time to think and then chased the best price (all the stores carried the same range), but instead we happily gave the sale to the person who was helpful and knew what he was talking about. He’d offered us the service we needed and the reward for us was the right fridge; and for him, a sale and the possibility of repeat business (after all, our other appliances are around the same age).

He fulfilled all our service expectations and this has prompted me to stop to think if our business is fulfilling all our client’s service expectations. Maybe we should all look over our shoulders and stop and think about the service we provide… after all, the rewards are very real.

phs

Anthony Tesselaar hails from Anthony Tesselaar International, an international project management company dealing in plants, horticultural research & development and strategic water management. www.tesselaar.com / ATesselaar@tesselaar.com

The website is adapted from a booklet created

by Colorblends that is available as a gift to visitors of the Amsterdam Tulip Museum while supplies last. |||

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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Automation Rise n’ Shine Biotechnology Pvt. Ltd., India’s largest biotechnology company carries out propagation work for the world’s leading companies in commercial floriculture. In addition, they produce about ten million banana plants a year from tissue culture. Recently, the company conducted trials using 40mm Ellepots for a single phase acclimatization process. This has now been adopted as standard procedure with results so satisfactory that carnation and gerbera are also propagated using Ellepots.

by John Sutton

Rising demand for Ellepots in India “W

e seek to become the world’s number one biotechnology company,” says founder Mrs. Bhagyashree Patil. And already Rise n’ Shine Biotechnology Pvt. Ltd. is India’s largest business in its field of work. From its state-of-the-art tissue culture laboratories its exports go to over thirty countries. Propagation work is carried out for some of the best known names in the world of commercial floriculture.

They include Fides for chrysanthemums, Terra Nigra for gerbera, Barberet & Blanc for carnations, and Darwin Plants for a wide range ofherbaceousperennialsincluding heuchera and cordyline.

Rise n’ Shine Biotechnology is also a major player in orchid propaga-

Newly planted bananas in 40mm plug.

tion, especially of dendrobium for Kultana Orchids in Thailand. The company is also the propagator for a very large commercial orchid production project in southern India.

Life-long passion for floriculture

Banana growing stages.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

Yet the massive production, now running at more than thirty million plants each year, is from a company that started from very small beginnings only fifteen years ago. Mrs. Patil set out in 1999 with less than

a hectare of land near Pune, 150km south-east of Mumbai, in the state of Maharastra. The land was a gift from her husband, to enable her to develop her life-long passion for floriculture. She had another passion, too. This was the desire to give towomenasmanyopportunitiesas possibleforemploymentandcareer development.

The achievements of Mrs. Patil and her colleagues has been nothing short of spectacular. Today there are no fewer than 1700 employees,

Rooting is fast and plant quality is excellent.

of whom 98% are female. The women work at all levels within the company,alivingdemonstrationof what is possible within a culture in which careers for women is still a novel concept outside very limited segments of Indian society.

Rise n’ Shine Biotech today has over 10,000sq.m. of tissue culture laboratories. In addition to these, there are extensive climate-controlledgreenhousefacilitieson15ha of land. Despite this massive scale of operation, there is no compromise on quality, and the company has achieved ISO 9001-2008 accreditation.

Packers at Rise and Shine have many years experience of packing delicate banana plants to travel long distances.

thereforesterile,propagationhasto bebyvegetativemeans.Traditionally, this has meant suckers or socalledcorms.However,thebanana is susceptible to serious diseases, both fungal and viral, and only youngplantsproducedfromtissue culturecanbeguaranteeddiseasefree at the time of planting.

Whereas plants of most species produced by Rise n’ Shine Biotech aredestinedforexport,thescaleof banana production in India is such thatmostofthecompany’stradein banana plants is accounted for by domesticdemand.Ordersdocome from other countries, though, and Moroccan growers have recently bought significant quantities.

explants into 104-cell trays. After four to six weeks the young plants were then moved to flexible polythene pots, where they remained for a further and longer period before dispatch to customers. More recently,thecompanyconducted trials using 40mm Ellepots for a single phase acclimatization process. This has now been adopted as standard procedure.

The acclimatization period has beenreducedbyuptofourweeks.

Rootgrowthisnowuninterrupted and undisturbed, and at planting time there is no pot to remove.

Roots are able to grow straight throughtheEllepotpaperintothe soil in which they are planted.

Ellepots

Big labour savings

For growers in India, the need is for well-developed plants that are fully acclimatized in preparation for their final planting. Originally, the company started the acclimatization process by transferring

R&D programme

There is a wide-reaching research anddevelopmentprogramme,and facilities for it include a further laboratory area of over 500sq.m.

Outdoors, 25,000sq.m. are dedicated to a long term study of the productiontraitsofindigenousand imported clones of the important banana variety Grand Nain. This project is in collaboration with the Israeli company Ginosar.

Rise n’ Shine Biotech produces about ten million banana plants a year from tissue culture. Indian production of the fruit is so large that it accounts for around a fifth of the world total. Because cultivated banana varieties are triploid, and

As well as the reduced time required in nursery conditions, there are big labour savings. On the nursery there is no intermediate move from cell trays to pots.

Plants are slightly smaller when they are dispatched to customers, and the root systems at that stage are in a compact, stable module.

For these reasons, plants can be closely packed into stackable plastic trays for loading onto the delivery vehicles. Now over 50,000plantscanbesafelyloaded on a single truck that could carry 12,000 plants at most in the previously used plastic pots.

Customers have been more than pleasedwiththeseEllepot-grown plants, and have come back with repeat orders. Their labour needs for planting are reduced, and they areevensavedthechore,necessary in the past, of gathering up and disposing of the used pots after plantingitselfhasbeencompleted.

Rise n’ Shine Biotechnology now has a manual Ellepot H211 machine,andismorethanpleased with its performance. Apart from bananas,theEllepotsarealsoused for the propagation of carnation and gerbera. The Ellepot system fits perfectly with the company’s mission statement, which speaks of amalgamating cutting edge technology with cost effective production. |||

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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World News Canada

Biocontrol expert Sam Newsome says NutrimiteTM is a game changer Van Wingerden International (VWI) started working with Biobest and biocontrol 15 years ago. Sam Newsome a grower at VWI is very familiar with the full array of biocontrol tools: beneficial insects and mites, bio-insecticides, banker plants, etc. He has been determined to continuously expand the scope for biocontrol in his crops. Biobest’s NutrimiteTM, a food supplement for predatory mites, adds a totally new product category to the biocontrol toolbox. Sam is convinced that this addition resolves a number of practical and economical bottlenecks in biocontrol.

Greater scope for successful biocontrol, means more options to avoid recurring problems with chemical pest control such as residue issues and resistance of pests to chemical pesticides.

“Predatory mites have to sustain the stresses of transportation and release, then they must go after

food in the crop. Without a steady food source, multiple rounds of preventative releases are necessary. With the addition of NutrimiteTM to a biocontrol program, populations of predatory mites such as A. swirskii build up much faster. We continue to do further testing to adapt our

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

biocontrol programs, but there is a compelling logic to make sure that predators released can survive and reproduce in the crop,” said Sam Newsome.

Sam highlights the following example, ”We are using NutrimiteTM on miniature roses. We grow these year-round with minimal

overhead irrigation. We do not like to apply a lot of bio-controls right before a big harvest, since most of the predators would likely be lost during that process.

That means there is often a two week period between introductions. With NutrimiteTM I can help our beneficial population

Buongiorno!

by Arturo Croci

Silver Carnation Awards spanning 40 years of Italian floriculture It's been over forty years since Dr Carlo Calì came up with the bright idea to organise a Flower Festival and Silver Carnation Awards ceremony in Giarre, Sicily. Since that day, every year around more or less the same dates, the cultural organisation ‘I Fiori di Giarre’(flowers from Giarre and Mount Etna), currently chaired by Ms Maria Carmela Cali, carefully reviews many nominations, including people from both Italy and abroad. All nominees are checked by a specialist panel of judges to make sure they are suitable for receiving an honour.

reproduce and stay with us during that gap and that definitely helps me sleep a little better.”

Chemical options are become fewer and less effective with time. With the right level of expertise and good expert advice, biocontrol is an economical, effective and sustainable solution.”

NutrimiteTM gives me more options for successful biocontrol, in terms of cost and effectiveness. It avoids wasting resources on releasing beneficials with no perspective of successful establishment. That makes me and VWI happy. I’m sure I will continue to feed my mites on this healthy diet, and I’m excited to find out just how much it can help our bio-control operation,” said Sam. Sam’s practical recommendations: “We stayed with the recommended rate of about 200 grams per acre, using the Makita blower with Biobest’s Nutri-App attachment. At first I found it difficult to move fast enough down narrow pathways and get the fine pollen particles distributed evenly over the whole area intended. Now I mix NutrimiteTM with an inert carrier. This allows me to move steadily and spread the product evenly. We have had no problem with this approach and got great results.”

For more information contact Biobest Canada info@biobest.ca or Ronald Valentin rvalentin@biobest.ca |||

The International Silver Carnation Awards are designed to recognise remarkable entrepreneurs from the worldwide ornamental horticulture and gardening industry, but is also intended to discover the beauty of Sicily and to promote international business contacts. That’s why the award is only presented to those who come to collect it personally.

Now in its 40th year, the Silver Carnation Awards rank among one of the highest international accolades for horticulture, with award winners and supporters in all corners of the world, from the Vatican to the Republic of San Marino, from Europe to Asia, the United States and Argentina.

It is pretty amazing to realise that such a small idea has had such a big impact. Italy’s highest accolade in horticulture stimulates companies in their growth and is strongly supported by the cream of the trade shows and industry events such as Florum, Pescia’s Biennale del Fiore, Miflor, Flormart, Floroma, Euroflora, Orticolario and IPM Essen.

The story behind the Silver Carnation Awards, including a list of all the winners, can be found in the newly launched book "Floricoltura Italiana, storie, uomini, aziende" published by Murcia.

This year, the Silver Carnation events were held over seven days, offering a rich and diverse programme with a photography exhibition in Riposto’s Palazzo Vigo, flower arranging demonstrations, seminars and workshops.

The winners of the coveted Awards were announced at a gala in the Vascello hall of Riposto’s town hall on Saturday September 27th. Among the winners of the 40th Silver Carnation Awards were grower and Consorzio dei Fiori Tipici del Lago Maggiore president, Mr Daniele Luppi, and Mimma Pipitone Martinico of Martinico Ornamental Plants.

Pictured from left to right are Maria Carmela Calì President of Associazione Culturale I fiori di Giarre e dell’Etna, Enrico Benaglia, Giosuè Catania, Bruno Oddenino, Daniele Luppi, Mimma Pipitone Martinico, Enzo Caragliano mayor of Riposto, Mariella di Guardo president of the town hall council, Gianfranco Pappalardo, Carlo Calì founder of the Silver Carnation Award, Franco Ristuccia, Carlo Scollo, Vanessa Talluto and Arturo Croci.

Arturo Croci is the founder of Italy's leading horticultural business magazine Flortecnica and a walking encyclopedia of Italian horticulture. arturo@floracultureinternational.com

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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Crop protection Lisianthus is an exquisite and delicate flower. The multi-million dollar pot plant and cut flower businesses that it supports globally, attest that consumers all over the world are attracted to this beautiful flower.

Transplants are equally delicate and produced by specialist nurseries, making this a high value crop, where yield and quality is critical to ensure profitability.

Getting to the root of dieback in Lisianthus

G

ross margins can be tight, if the establishment of Lisianthus transplants is poor, or it is only feasible to get one flush from the planting. It is not unusual for transplants to succumb to what some growers refer to as ‘die-back’ or ‘damping off’. These symptoms are usually caused by a fungal infection from soil borne fungi such as Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Phytophthora, or Pythium.

Plantdeathfromthesediseasescan be as high as 70% if the conditions are conducive to the diseases. So it is important to understand where the disease comes from, how it is spread and what can be done to reduce the risks.

Prevent spread of diseases in water

by Louise Labuschagne*

Although these pathogens are all soil borne, only Phytophthora and Pythium have motile zoospores (a spore with a tail for swimming).

This means that free-water on the leaf surface, either from condensation or overhead irrigation, will provide the water needed for the fungalzoosporetoswimandspread the disease. Lisianthus suffers from downy mildew that also has a motile zoospore.

Controlling leaf wetness by careful sub-irrigation, good drainage, adequate plant spacing and environmental controls will contribute to thecontrolofthisgroupofdiseases.

Culturalcontrolisessentialbecause these diseases are systemic within the plant and chemical fungicides are not always effective. Although there are breeding programmes in progress to develop resistant varieties, this is not a guarantee of freedom from disease, if cultural controls remain weak.

Control insect vectors Sciarid larva.

Excess irrigation, high soil organic matter and dirty irrigation lines

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | November 2014

Lisianthus transplants with Trichoderma asperellum before planting…

could lead to build up of algae on the soil surface. Algae is the primaryfoodsourcefortwogroups of tiny flies that inhabit the soil surface where spores of the soil borne fungal diseases are located.

These flies are known to transmit the disease spores within the crop, so control of these flies will have a significant impact on disease control.

Shore flies (Scatella sp) look like very small domestic flies and although, their larvae are not thought to actively feed on the plant roots, it’s role as a vector of diseases, makes it a ‘pest’. If present in high numbers, shore flies can be a nuisance to workers and their faeces may cause unsightly marks on the leaves.

Fungus gnats or sciarid flies (Bradysia sp) look like small mosquitoes

and are both a vector for diseases and cause direct plant damage when sciarid larvae feed on roots and burrow into stems.

For such small insects, they lay a lot of eggs! Females live for about 10 days and can each lay several hundred eggs, during their short life. There can be many generations in an all year round growing environment.

Eggs are laid near the soil surface and hatch into small maggots in the soil. Sciarid larvae (3 mm long) are translucent with a dark black head.

Sciarid flies will feed on the roots during this period, whilst shore flies feed on algae and organic matter.

Within 2 weeks, the fully fed larvae will pupate in the soil and eventually another adult will emerge The cycle begins again.

infect all stages of fungus gnat and shore fly. Metarhizium is an entomopathogenicfungus(insect-killing fungus), which occurs naturally in the soil and has been formulated into a biopesticide to be used as either a soil drench (for pupae and larvae) or as a spray against adult flies. It is easy to use, as it can even be tank-mixed with insecticides or fungicides.

Real Metarhizium 69 is Registered in several African countries and is the product of research from the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE).

Success in South Africa

and then routinely throughout the growth of the crop.

Trap adult flies

Fortunately, adult flies are both attracted to yellow stick traps. This will provide an indication of their presence, although no guidelines ontheeconomicthresholdsneeded before action is taken.

Flies may not be uniformly distributed in a greenhouse. Put traps at soil level and focus on areas where theremaybewettersoilconditions, near irrigation valves. If the traps are the type where parts of the sticky area can be exposed gradually in sections (and the previous week’s sticky section is covered back up again) – then it is possible to record the rise and fall of adult fly populations. This at least will give the grower an indication of the effectiveness of any crop protection methods employed to control vectors.

Control methods for flies, larvae and pupae

Generally, chemical pesticides targetspecificstagesinthelifecycle of a pest. Regular soil applica-

tions of diflubenzuron in some countries have been used to good effect. Over-reliance on one active ingredientisnotrecommendedfor reasonsofresistancemanagement.

Combined programmes with and Bacillusthuringiensisvarisraelensis help manage resistance.

A beneficial entomopathogenic nematode (Steinernema feltiae) is available commercially from Syngenta Bioline (Exhibitline). This speciesappearsmoreeffectivethat S. carpocapsae. These beneficial nematodes swim in soil water and infect the larvae, causing death of fly larvae from septicaemia in about 2 days. Entomopathogenic nematodes are likely to be compatible with both diflubenzuron and Bacillus thuringiensis. However, check the efficacy of the isolate in low soil temperatures before use.

Entomopathogenicnematodestend tobemoreexpensivethanbiopesticidesmadefromentomopathogenic fungi.

Biopesticides, such as Metarhizium anisopliae ICIPE 69, however can

Lisianthus yield and grade-out with Real IPM.

The ideal crop protection solution is a cost effective, prophylactic, preventative IPM programme.

Both the fungal diseases and the fly vectors need to be tackled at the same time.

Lisianthus growers in South Africa were facing severe losses from die back until they implemented a combined,preventativeprogramme of Trichoderma asperellum (a fungus that controls soil diseases) with Metarhizium 69 as a soil drench for the fly vectors. It was not possible to produce more than one flush per planting, due to die back whereas the IPM programme has enable thegrowerstoharvestthreeflushes from one planting, making it a more profitable crop to grow.

For more information on Real IPM programmeswww.realipm.com  ||| * Louise Labuschagne hails from The Real IPM Company (Kenya) Ltd. www.realipm.com

November 2014 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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