"NL: "Ekote makes additional fertilizing during the growth process unnecessary"

Plant grower Fokke de Boer talks about his experiences with Ekote Controlled Release Fertilizers in cultivating plants and flowers. The Dutch grower cultivates a range of different flowers and plants like Petunias, Lobellias, Bacopas and Glechomas. “Ekote enables me to spend more time on my company and customers and less on tuning the growth of the plant during the growth process, because I know Ekote provides consistent and steady nutrition”.



De Boer mainly cultivates pot plants in hanging baskets which are available in different sizes. Choosing the right fertilizer is of great importance at the start of the cultivation process. Shortage of nutrients quite quickly will result in coloring of the plants. Specifically the leaves which are on the lower side of the plant, will be harmed by shortage of nutrients. For this reason it is important to have a high quality fertilizer in enough quantity, available for the plant. Besides this, the strategy of giving water to the plant can also be very important”, explains De Boer.

De Boer uses Controlled Release Fertilizers for quite some time now. “But the results I have seen using Ekote are really striking, explains De Boer. The main difference with my former fertilization strategy is that with using Ekote I don’t have to apply any additional (water soluble) fertilizer during the growth process. The result of this consistent and steady supply of nutrients is a beautiful compact plant, which has a higher quality than before. This also enhances the value of the plant”. De Boer used a product with a longevity of 6 months, which leaves enough nutrition for the plant even when it is sold to the consumer. “This means that my customer receives a ready-to-sell product which does not require any additional fertilizer”, explains De Boer.

To achieve these results, De Boer used Ekote Ornamentals Plus Hi K (13-07-19 + 2MgO + TE – 6 months) in a quantity of 5 kg/m3. “Ekote also put my company operations more at ease. Because application of additional fertilizer is not needed anymore, there is also no risk on making mistakes in this process. The fact that it is not needed leaves more free time which enables me to spent more time on my business”, concludes De Boer.

De Boer is very satisfied with the excellent results Ekote brought him and would like to give some advice to other growers: “Each grower has his own strategy when it comes to fertilization and water dosing. Using Ekote taught me one thing – despite the fact that I was already using Controlled Release Fertilizers - there is always room for improvement! Choosing a high quality fertilizer in the end will result in improved efficiency and cost savings. One time application of Ekote is enough to assure that my plants get the nutrition that is needed throughout the season. This saves time and costs, which in the end also contributes to a better margin on my plants. One important thing to mention: I achieved this result together with Ekompany by close cooperation. This approach I greatly valued!”


For more information:
Ekompany International BV
Stan Hoeijmakers, Marketing Manager
Verloren van Themaatweg 2A
6121RG, Born
The Netherlands
T: +31 (0)46 727 1000
F: +31 (0)46 727 1001
E: Stan.Hoeijmakers@ekompany.eu
www.ekompany.eu