A part of the Hamifleur team visited Beyond Chrysant on 18 September. Wouter Duijvestein warmly welcomed them to the nursery that he and his brother run together.
It quickly became clear that this isn’t just any chrysanthemum nursery. This is a place where everything is considered in great detail in order to grow the best quality flowers. Wouter indicated that at Beyond Chrysant, they guarantee their customers that of the 5 stems, 5 will be perfect.
He gave a tour of the entire process - from a cutting to a box with chrysanthemums ready for transport.
They plant their own cuttings at Beyond Chrysant. This is done by a robot that plants each cutting in the potting compost in the same way and at the same depth. Wouter indicated that the potting compost is of a special composition so that the cutting can extract the optimum nutrients from the ground. Each process within the company is set up in such a way that each stem experiences the best possible growth process.
In order to ensure this quality, Beyond Chrysant only offers three varieties; Baltica, Baltica Yellow and Zembla.
Once the cutting is planted in the potting compost, it is moved to the breeding room. Here the cuttings will remain in optimal living conditions while settling in potting compost for a maximum of 12 days. It will allow the roots to develop properly.
After these 12 days, the plants are moved to the greenhouse. As the greenhouse is situated on clay there are even more nutrients for the flowers to enjoy. In the greenhouse, only organic pesticides are used.
As soon as the flowers are fully grown, they are picked and immediately transported to the hall. Here only the best quality will be sorted. The flowers are then immediately refrigerated. This ensures that the growth process stops and that less damage can be inflicted during transport.
Wouter’s tip: after transport, leave the flowers in their sleeves for a while, but do give them water and time to absorb it. Only then remove the sleeves. This process ensures a brief reanimation and that the quality of the flower is even higher after transport!
For more information:
Hamifleurs
www.hamifleurs.nl