During Easter, which took place last weekend, many people go to garden centers to buy plants. According to Schwartz, the bedding plants are usually one of the top sellers this weekend, but due to this early Easter and therefore the colder temperatures, more people chose to buy indoor plants. "The early flowering bedding plants were promoted heavily, but if the weather is not nice, they will not be bought," he says.
Therefore, the phalaenopsis sales of Gartneriet Rønbæk increased compared to other years. "Our Easter sales were better then other years. I do not have the exact numbers, but I think that our sales were like 10 to 15 percent higher this month compared to March last year. There was a good demand for all our sizes (the 6, 9 and 12 cm), but there was no increase in prices," says Schwartz.
Gartneriet Rønbæk
In its 2ha greenhouse, Schwarts grows 6, 9 and 12 cm phalaenopsis. In 1978, his father started the business and cultivated green foliage plants. About 19 years later, in 1997 they started cultivating phalaenopsis and completely shifted to this production in 2005 as the plant became very popular. "We started with producing the large ones, the 12 cm phalaenopsis, only. But over the years, we also added smaller ones, the 6 and 9 cm phalaenopsis," says Schwartz. The 6 cm phalaenopsis are mainly exported to the Netherlands and the 9 and 12 cm mainly to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and a bit to Germany.
For more information
Gartneriet Rønbæk
Christian H. Schwartz
Email: chr@roenbaek.dk
www.roenbaek.dk