New Dümmen Orange CEO on company’s ambitious growth plans

With a background of consolidating companies combined with his global experience, Hugo Noordhoek Hegt was chosen as the new CEO of Dümmen Orange. He started on January 1st, 2020 and took over the baton from Biense Visser (who retired and will continue to support the delivery of the company’s strategy as…

US: Early reports point to a strong Valentine’s Day

Floral professionals faced plenty of challenges last week, with a Friday Valentine’s Day on a long weekend. According to feedback from national companies and Society of American Florists volunteer leaders, however, the holiday turned out to be quite strong. “This holiday was a total doozy,” said SAF…

NL: HortiContact 2020 coming to an end

HortiContact is still in full swing, but is coming to an end today. It took off last Wednesday and yesterday has been the busiest day so far. In total, the new lay-out of the show hosts 468 exhibitors - among others, manufacturers, importers, suppliers, wholesalers and grocers from the various sectors of…

Hans van der Poel delivers 500th bucket filler

Machine manufacturer Hans van der Poel BV. from Roelofarendsveen, the Netherlands, is specialized in machines used in greenhouse horticulture. Nine years ago, Dutch tulip grower Joost Wesselman came walking in with a request; he wanted a bucket filler specially designed for round buckets. Hans van der…

Water sanitation: Identifying potential problems before they start

Ever wonder how water related disease issues just seem to pop up out of nowhere? You’ve never had a problem before, but suddenly things just aren’t looking right. The truth is that problems often go unnoticed while pathogen levels are low. Knowing potential innoculum sources and practicing good…

Kenya: Open Days at WAC International

WAC International are having open days next week from Wednesday 26th till Friday 28th of February. During this three-day event, their varieties and particularly new varieties will take center stage. This year, they will present two new red varieties, several yellows and a pink for the first time. B Nice…

US (CT): Senator urges USDA to continue to support floral industry

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue supporting the American floral and horticulture industry. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Murphy emphasized the importance of supporting the America’s floricultural industry.…

Illumitex terminates LED lighting operations, shifts focus to AI

Illumitex terminates its LED lighting operations, aiming to become a pure AgTech computer-vision AI company that deploys edge vision systems, edge AI, and cloud services to provide visualization and augmented intelligence for controlled environment agriculture. “With installations ramping, we are seeing…

10 years of Signum

With her green accents in the heart and white colour, oriental lily Signum is a favourite among florists. It has been ten years since this lily became available on the market for the first time. Partly thanks to the passionate growers and the enthusiastic exporters, Signum is still very successful, according to breeder Royal…

Costa Farms’ Monstera deliciosa ‘Thai Constellation’ chosen as favorite new foliage plant at TPIE 2020

With unique splashes of color reminiscent of a galaxy, Monstera deliciosa ‘Thai Constellation’, a new variety of the hardy monstera plant, was chosen as Favorite New Foliage Plant at the 2020 Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Grown by Costa Farms of Miami, Florida,…

LED supplemental lighting providing red and blue radiation = purple leaves on some young plants

Don’t be alarmed if some of your crops turn purple under LED supplemental lighting providing red and blue radiation. by Roberto G. Lopez - rglopez@msu.edu From October to March, the accumulated amount of photosynthetic light that plants growing in greenhouses receive over the course of the day or the daily…

Semi-closed greenhouses equipped with night cooling system

Semi-closed greenhouses are no longer only for areas with a temperate climate. Also for more extreme climates there are also solutions - creative solutions. Three years ago in Japan, greenhouse builder KUBO built their first Ultra-Clima greenhouse with a night cooling system for a rose cultivation…

"Many opportunities in Vietnam if you can offer feasible technologies to the growers"

When he was fourteen he started weaning violets in the greenhouse and when he was nineteen he was done with it. In the meantime he has been fused with horticulture for many years, from his home in Thailand. After all, there are plenty of opportunities in Southeast Asia. Especially Vietnam has his…

US (PA): Greenhouse is standing strong long after the cut-flower industry's heyday

Third-generation growers in Avondale, Rosazza Son’s Florist & Greenhouses now has a variety of seasonal options, including Easter bulbs, geraniums, vegetable plants, mums and poinsettias. Right now, Ralph is tucking snapdragon blooms into four stacked layers of woven wire racks that keep them growing…

A sustainable netting solution for growblocks and pellets

Jiffy aims for lowering the use of plastics for their growing media. Just recently Jiffy decided to switch from PE and PP plastics to PLA netting for all Jiffy Grow Blocks and Jiffy Pellets. Lettuce; strong rooting on Jiffy Growblock PLA Netting The PLA net is a light weight fine-fibre web, comprised of polylactic…

European pilot project to create a new generation of biostimulants

LandLab Italy and Van Iperen International, the Dutch producer of specialty fertilizers, have joined forces in a new project, assisted by James Hutton Institute, University of Padova, Euroliquids and Van Iperen. The project, which is called LIFE Plants for Plants, focuses on a new generation of organic…

8 advantages of implementing a biomass heating system into your business

With an abundance of environmental legislation and net-zero carbon emissions targets, biomass heating systems are becoming increasingly popular in the horticultural industry. With many nurseries seeing a great additional income from RHI payments and a substantially lower fuel supply cost, it is no wonder…

UF researchers link gene from ancient virus with plant stature

A new study from the University of Florida links the ability of plants to grow to great heights to a 500-million-year-old interaction between a virus and a type of algae. “The…

Niagara College Greenhouse Nursery cat officially named

Niagara College is introducing Scout, the new Niagara College Greenhouse Nursery cat. Over 1,800 name submissions were received. The name was chosen because Scout will be hunting for mice, as well as scouting out new students. Scout has his own Instagram account at…

Netherlands: New 3.5 ha greenhouse for Schneider Youngplants

Schneider Youngplants has been given the go-ahead by local authorities to build their new young plant nursery in Woudrichem, the Netherlands. On top of that, the Rabobank has agreed to full financing and the team of KG Systems is already preparing for this ambitious turnkey project. The opening of the…

Haploid induction via unpollinated ovule culture in Gerbera hybrida

Ovule-derived haploid culture is an effective and important method for genetic study and plant breeding. Gerbera hybrida is a highly heterozygous species, and the lack of homozygous lines presents a challenge for molecular genetic research. Therefore, researchers performed haploid induction through…

Floricultura Brazil puts a new appointment on growers’ and breeders’ calendars

Floricultura is one of the absolute superpowers when it comes to Phalaenopsis young plants. Since a few years ago the Dutch breeder boosts its own facilities in Brazil, while supplying many of the major South American growers. In order to highlight the assortment including the new Anthurium and Spathiphyllum…

Van den Berk opens nursery in the UK

After the establishment of BALI Registered Affiliate member Van den Berk in 2019, Van den Berk now announces the establishment of a nursery in the UK. The decision for their own location in the UK was made because of a strong demand from clients and specifiers for their specimen trees and to provide a quality…

Flower box Fc527 removed from Royal FloraHolland assortment

Royal FloraHolland has a wide assortment of single-use and reusable flower packaging. The Fc527 reusable flower box is no longer part of the assortment as of 10 February 2020. This flower box is mainly used with the Lily product group, but in recent years usage has fallen sharply to a few users. The…

Ellepot introducing new paper for organic production

Ellepot has developed and patented a new technology for their Ellepot propagation papers, and the first product in a new line to come is Ellepot Organic 2.0. New patented technologyThe new propagation paper - Ellepot Organic 2.0 consist of 100% fully compostable and degradable materials. The new patented…

Australia: Detection dogs track down rare orchid

Detection dogs Missy and Taz of OWAD Environment were brought in by NSW Government’s Saving our Species (SoS) program and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) after staff spent fruitless days searching for new orchid populations. Discovered by a member of the public, the orchid is being…

SAF asks CNN, Country Living to nix negativity

CNN and Country Living magazine are among the companies that the Society of American Florists has reached out to recently, asking them to nix negative floral references in…

"The system is only good if the last 5% is also good"

For the efficient processing and delivery of young plants, Jörgen Valstar, director of Valstar Young Plants b.v. from Maasland, was looking for a partner who could think along the same lines with the complex logistics of these processes. Jörgen Valstar: “In the preliminary phase I spoke with 3 parties…

How do storms and hurricanes get their names?

In Europe storms are named as a joint enterprise between the UK’s Met Office, Ireland’s Met Éireann and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). The list is set…

Royal FloraHolland Members' Council meeting focuses on strategy and leading teams

A two-day meeting of the Members' Council took place for the third time on January 23 and 24. What was discussed and what were its conclusions? During the two-day meeting, growers and management had the opportunity to talk to each other in a relaxed setting. For brand new Members' Council member Gerrit…

UK: Yodel delivered record number of flowers this Valentine’s Day

UK independent parcel carrier Yodel has delivered a record number of flowers for Valentine’s Day, with deliveries up 1.85% on last year. More than 124,000 flower deliveries were made on 14th February, highlighting the UK’s fondness for flower gifting as a present for loved ones. This record year reflects…

UK: ‘Garden Centres of Excellence’ winners announced at conference

The winners of the Garden Centre Association's most prestigious awards, including the Garden Centres of Excellence, were announced at the annual GCA conference recently. The awards ceremony took place at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel. The full list of winners announced on Tuesday, January 28 were: Garden…

Cinefleur’s newest Milan edition is out now

The Pre-Spring edition of the online magazine Cinefleur has been launched on Tuesday February 18th. This time, the magazine was filmed and produced in Milan, the fashion capital of the world. You will be drawn into interesting local stories through film, photography and beautiful design. Discover why the…

Kenya agriculture leaders set for first-of-its-kind summit to tackle sector challenges

More than 400 high level agriculture sector leaders are set for a first-of-its-kind gathering in Kenya as industry players look at innovative ways of invigorating agricultural growth and bolstering their commitment to leave no one behind across the value chain. The two-day workshop dubbed National…

Veiling Rhein-Maas opening times around Carnival

There will be an auction at Veiling Rhein-Maas on Carnival Monday (24 February 2020) as usual. Regular delivery and opening times will also apply during the other days of carnival. Please click here if you are looking for an overview of all special auction days in 2020.You can find the opening hours of the Import…

Syngenta Flowers Europe

Our #FlowerOfTheMonth #cyclaam pic.twitter.com/TbtiIWhcta — Syngenta Flowers Europe (@SyngentaFlowers) February 20, 2020

Tons of flowers fly for Valentine's Day

More than 210 LATAM Cargo Boeing 767-300 freighters took off from Colombia and Ecuador, carrying 12,600 tons of flowers for the 2020 Valentine’s Day season. Together with Mother’s Day, this represents the peak of the fresh flower export activity. This year’s figure represents a growth of 45% compared to…

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