For several years, Adriano Gobetti, CEO at Lazzeri, has been observing their cyclamen young plants and was looking for a tray that could maintain the comfort that the plants had in the greenhouse all the way to their growers. As they could not find a perfect fit, they decided to work together with Modiform to design a new tray, and after a year, they realized one; a thermoformed, black-and-white, 66-hole tray. They are pleased with the results, particularly at the growers' end. "At the cultivation stage, there are no big differences, but the young plants are being transported in better conditions. In turn, if necessary, the plants can stay in the trays for a longer time before transplanting."
Adriano Gobetti
Why a new tray?
Gobetti: "I have been observing our cyclamen cultivation in the greenhouse for several years; the plants are grown widely spaced, uniform, and with lots of air and light. However, when they needed to be delivered, they were placed tightly with 104 plants per tray. I wanted a solution for the plants so that they could cope better with the days of transport and possible storage time before transplanting. So, we needed something that could maintain the comfort the plants had in the greenhouse all the way to our customers." However, looking through the existing tray models on the market, he could not find anything. Till December 2021, Gobetti thought. "During a trip to the U.S., I saw a growing tray with several holes for aeration. Bingo! I thought, found the solution. I asked for a sample and presented it to our production manager Friedhelm Krackhardt, thinking that we found a solution, but Friedhelm was not very enthusiastic about my proposal and wanted to develop a new tray designed especially for growing cyclamen."
Friedhelm Krackhardt
The new tray
So, they worked for about a year together with Modiform to develop a new tray. So what makes this new tray so special? Krackhardt explains: "It is a tray that works very well both in cultivation and during transport and any storage time, ensuring homogeneity of product, maintaining quality, and avoiding future health problems. We tried to optimize the ratio of substrate volume, spacing, density (ratio of empty to occupied spaces) and at the same time achieve maximum air recirculation."
"We know that it is not always possible for growers to transplant large quantities of cyclamen on the same day of arrival, so keeping the plants spaced apart allows air and light to enter, thus avoiding possible diseases and elongation of the plant. On top of that, we created micro-footings in each cell to make sure the excess water goes away and opted for a white tray, which warms the plants less during the summer."
More projects in the pipeline
According to Gobetti, Lazzeri has always been innovative in looking for solutions to achieve the highest quality for our young plants, especially when thinking about sustainability. "We are working on another very ambitious project, and there will be news soon."
For more information:
LAZZERI SOCIETÀ AGRICOLA A R.L
Tel.: +39 0473 246246
Email: info@lazzeri-agricola.com
www.lazzeri-agricola.com