Climate is changing and growers are experiencing it first hand. Two weeks ago, in one of the greenhouses of Flowers House Group in Lasso, Ecuador, temperatures inside dropped to under 0 Degrees Celsius for over two hours in the night. Consequently, they lost some stems. "The damage was 90% in white and pink varieties, which is about 1/35 of our monthly production," the farm's Luis Cadavid explains.
Luis Cadavid at the Horiflorexpo IPM Shanghai.
Damage
Due to the unusual and long cold temperatures, mainly their white and pink varieties were affected and have become unsaleable. "We lost somewhere between 9,000-10,000 stems due to crystallization, petal damage and decoloration."
Picture of crystalized petals, posted on their LinkedIn page.
Climate change
According to Cadavid, global warming (or climate change) is definitely having its effects on the flower industry. For this reason, have been taken measures to mitigate the weather. "We are burning sugar and spreading water all over the place for the days that it seems the temperature will go down. It has done it a few other days but not for the duration of this dramatic climatic event."
Moving on
Due to the weather, they lost a cycle on those plants that were damaged. "Thankfully, the rose plant is very generous and recovers quickly." Despite this event, Cadavid is pleased with how things are running so far. "Considering the times, we cannot complain."
For more information:
Flowers House Group
www.flowershousegroup.com