Sarun Purapa at the Horti Asia 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand.
S.B. Green
S.B. Green is a Thai grower of young and finished orchids and plants. They have already been in the business for 15 years and then started to develop an interest in phaleanoposis about six years ago. "We saw a growing demand for phaleanopis in Europe. Therefore, we started to broaden our assortment with young plant phaleanopsis for export", explains Sarun. At the moment, their main market is Europe and especially the Netherlands. "We supply five Dutch growers with our young plant phaleanopsis", says Sarun.
Not much technique needed
The phaleanopsis are grown in a plastic greenhouse in Thailand. In the greenhouse, not much technique is used or needed. According to Sarun, the Thai climate for young plant cultivation of phaleanopsis is beneficial. "Therefore, not much technique is needed, only a water cleaning system and a computer controlled system that opens and closes the windows. This system can be adjusted to open and close the windows at the appropriate times for each season", he says.
Besides that, S.B. Green mainly use biological crop protection products. "Many of our growers in Europe ask for young plants with low residue levels. Therefore, before exporting the plants, we make sure that these plants are clean and low in residue level."
EU demand for small flowers
"In Europe, we see a large demand for phaleanopsis with small flowers. In contrast, Thai customers prefer large flowers." According to Sarun, this is because of the fact that phaleanopsis in Thailand are mainly used as a gift while in Europe, the Netherlands for example, it is often used as home decoration. "As Thai people give phaleanopsis as a gift. Therefore, the flower needs to be impressive and large."
For more information
S.B. Green
Sarun Purapa
Email: sbgreen@truemail.co.th
www.sbgreen.com