FloraCulture International January 2024

WWW.FLORACULTUREINTERNATIONAL.COM JANUARY 2024

K E N YA F L O W E R C O U N C IL

CEO Clement Tulezi analyses flower market T H E F E R N F IL E S

Vitro Plus produce hardy ferns

T EC H

Global greenhouse construction trends

BATTLING THE POST-CHRISTMAS BLUES Tropical houseplant production - the perfect antidote for the grey and damp monotony of winter

Your complete source for tropical and perennial fern starters Vitro Plus B.V. Roterij 26, 4328 BA Burgh-Haamstede The Netherlands Tel. +31 111 468088 sales@vitroplus.nl

COME AND SEE US 10-12 January MANTS stand 2509 17-19 January TPIE stand 1163 23-26 January IPM ESSEN stand 2A21

Partners of FloraCulture International FloraCulture International encourages the pursuit of joint activities in areas of mutual interest with national, and international societies, and organisations.

Agreements have been reached between FCI and leading growers and trade associations worldwide. FCI is proud to work in collaboration with:

F R O M T H E ED I TO R

FCI Editor Ron van der Ploeg

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2024 A new year is a time to reflect on how we want to improve things. Will inflation start coming down, and will banks begin lowering their interest rates? How will energy and labour prices evolve and the environment change?

FCI’s contributing writer, Jaap Kras, stresses that we cannot know when new challenges and opportunities will emerge. However, specific economic laws, certain economic codes of conduct, and past experiences provide us with something to hold on to. On page 7, he shares his predictions for how the year will start, progress and end.

To achieve future success, it is always good to look back. From a business standpoint, it has been a busy and exciting year for FloraCulture International. Flipping through the more than 500 pages embedded in 11 issues, our dedicated team of contributing writers – to which I owe a big thanks – prepared a swath of cover stories on, for example, Plant Breeders’ Rights, European garden retail, biorationals, packaging, plant health, peat, energy and horti-tech plus a series of country and product profiles packed with statistical information are a proof how FCI continues to cover the trends and news of interest to professionals in the worldwide floriculture industry. We do this with the same dedication and passion as our founder, Debbie Hamrick, who founded the magazine 34 years ago.

That is quite a run!

True to tradition, the last week of December all through January, the post-Christmas period fuels a boom in large tropical houseplants. Our cover story features tropical foliage plant grower Leon Ammerlaan from Pijnacker, who explains how, for many people worldwide, a new tropical houseplant replacing the Christmas tree is the ultimate way to fight the post-holiday blues. This sales peak represents 15 per cent of his annual turnover, with a growing demand for low-maintenance plants.

While we are on the subject of plants, Vitro Plus has recently ventured into the hardy fern market following 30 years of robust success in tropical ferns. FCI travelled to the medieval town of Burgh-Haamstede, where we sat down with the company’s co-owner, John Bijl, who highlighted the unrivalled beauty, the compelling narrative and the amazing variety in the world of perennial ferns.

While preparing this month’s issue, we learned much about what the greenhouse manufacturers have been up to during the last year. Talking to greenhouse construction expert Mike Vermeij, CEO of Bom Group and Pieter van Berchum, who retired as operational director of Gakon Netafim Greenhouse Projects, was really interesting and enjoyable. See page 26.

By the end of this month, the industry will be represented at IPM Essen.

This reputable international event – celebrating its 40th anniversary this year - attracts global green professionals seeking suppliers. As international business opportunities continue to emerge, FCI remains committed to helping growers explore the exciting potential of export markets.

Through whatever happens, our team at FCI and its publisher, AIPH, remain committed to staying by your side through it all. We will keep bringing you the news and analysis from across the globe. We value your support, and I look forward to meeting you, face-to-face, wherever possible.

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FLOR ACULTURE INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2024

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CO N T E N T S JANUARY 2024 VOLUME 34 NUMBER 1

COVER STORY 14

POSITIVE ENERGY HOUSEPLANTS Award-winning houseplant grower, Ammerlaan-The Green Innovator Nursery taps into the Earth’s heat supply

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FEATURES 18

PLANT PROPAGATION Vitro Plus carves its way into propagation of outdoor ferns

26

TECH Collaboration and consolidation will create the scale needed for greenhouse construction

30

AIPH IGOTY 2024 Finalists announced for the AIPH International Grower of the Year 2024 Awards hosted at IPM Essen

VOICES 04 07 41

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FROM THE EDITOR WHAT WILL 2024 BRING? GREEN CITY PLANT PROFILE

IN EVERY ISSUE 06 08 40 43

WORLD NEWS VIS-À-VIS GREEN CITY POST SAVE THE DATES

FloraCulture International (FCI) is an independent trade magazine with the largest circulation for a world publication of its kind. FCI is published for the ornamental horticulture industry by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH). It is published 11 times per year worldwide.

Contributing writers: Timothy Blatch, Martin Deasy, Spence Gunn, Jaap Kras, Hannah Pinnells, Marta Pizano, Ron van der Ploeg, and Rachel Wakefield.

Contact: info@floracultureinternational.com. Address: FloraCulture International, Horticulture House, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RN, United Kingdom.

Editor: Ron van der Ploeg, ron@floracultureinternational.com Worldwide Advertising Office: Angie Duffree, angie@floracultureinternational.com. T. +31 6 403 277 35. Associate Editor and Designer: Rachel Wakefield, rachel.wakefield@ aiph.org. Cover image taken by InHolland at Ammerlaan-The Green Innovator Nursery and features co-owner Leon and his daughter Kayleigh Ammerlaan.

AIPH ©2024 FloraCulture International magazine. All rights reserved. Publisher is not liable for the content of the advertisements. Photographs by permission of copyright owners.

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WORLD NEWS

GERMANY

Messe Essen celebrates the 40th anniversary of IPM ESSEN I TA LY

Milan prepares for Italy’s premier horticultural trade show, Myplant&Garden The 8th edition of Italy’s most influential commercial ornamental horticulture event, Myplant&Garden, will take place in Milan between 21-23 February 2024, building on last year’s success when it featured 655 exhibitors and 23,000 attendees on a show floor spanning 45,000m�. Green professionals will again experience a state-of-the-art showcase of flowers, houseplants, annuals, trees, shrubs, agtech, machinery, and everything in between.

The ‘Natural Evolution’ themed Myplant & Garden 2024 show is set to be popular for attendees packed with new ideas, novelty plants and information with a strong focus on biodiversity, sustainability and the commercial production of ornamental plants.

The organisers have segmented the exhibit halls into eight categories to enable buyers to shop for products and services efficiently. The product areas are home to nursery stock,

cut flowers, home décor, pots and containers, machinery, garden maintenance, landscaping and services.

The Garden Centre Experience pavilion will feature new trends and merchandising concepts for the garden retail industry. The show’s novelty showcase area is dedicated to novelty flowers and plants and is closely linked to the Myplant & Garden Awards.

Set to attract huge crowds is a purpose-built wedding pavilion. www.myplantgarden.com

UNITED KINGDOM

Free Webinar on challenges and new developments in plant variety protection New Year, New Free Novelty Protection Webinar on Tuesday, 16 January. Guest speakers include Mr Dirk Theobald, CPVO Senior Technical Advisor, and Mr Niels Louwaars, Director of Plantum.

Mr Theobald has been working in the headquarters of the CPVO since 1995. In his presentation for the AIPH Novelty Protection Webinar, he will discuss the developments and challenges within CPVO since its establishment in 1994.

Dr Louwaars has provided advisory services to several countries on their seed policies, including plant breeders' rights. He is also the initiator of the International Plant Variety Protection course, which will have its 25th edition in 2024. For the AIPH Novelty Protection webinar, he will discuss Intellectual Property discussions in relation to NGTs and the ongoing sustainability transitions for ornamental growers.

To book your space, visit, www.aiph.org/event/ novelty-protection-webinar-2024

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JANUARY 2024

From 23 to 26 January 2024, the world's leading trade fair for horticulture will take place for the 40th time at Messe Essen. More than 1,400 exhibitors from around 50 nations will showcase their innovations in the exhibition areas of plants, technology, floristry and equipment at IPM ESSEN. The special anniversary edition under the motto “Our heart beats green” has numerous programme highlights for international trade visitors. Forums, congresses, competitions, tours, live shows, special shows and other side events will focus on current topics in the green sector, provide new inspiration for the coming business year and offer numerous networking opportunities.

In 2024, IPM ESSEN will also occupy the entire exhibition centre in Halls 1, 1A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and the Galeria.

The nations of Belgium, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, India, Israel, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the UK and the USA will participate with at least one joint stand.

The BGI Trade Centre in Hall 1, with 31 exhibitors, will again be the focal point for the international plant wholesale trade.

The joint “Young Innovators” stand in Hall 5, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, will focus on German start-ups.

Programme highlights of the world's leading trade fair for horticulture From the Horticulture Info Centre, the Innovations Showcase and the Teaching Show to trendy floristry and live shows in FDF World, the IPM Discovery Center with trendy POS concepts and the glass recording studio for the new IPM podcast “From the Greenhouse” - Green City, Hall 1A, provides trade visitors with valuable information and inspiration for their own business.

The IPM Concept Store will be in Hall 5.

Climate trees and insectfriendly perennials will be the focus of guided tours.

Commercial vehicles for horticulture will be a topic at

IPM ESSEN for the first time in Hall 7.

Things will also get technical in Hall 4, where the Horticultural Technology Innovation Centre will provide information on current solutions in short presentations.

Young start-ups, companies and projects from research and science will present themselves there together.

New at IPM ESSEN is the Best Practice Award for the floristry and equipment sector.

The AIPH will present the popular International Grower of the Year Awards (see page 30 for more information).

The best plant marketing story wins the Show Your Colours Award.

The IPM Messecup honours the best floral workpieces. #congratsipmessen Messe Essen has set up a social wall on the website www.ipm-essen.de for the 40th IPM ESSEN. Anyone who posts under the hashtag #congratsipmessen on Instagram or Facebook and congratulates the fair will become part of the colourful jubilee collage.

The motif of the anniversary campaign, a heart overgrown with plants, is available for digital download on the website and may be used explicitly for congratulatory posts.

Further information on the programme and tickets is at www.ipm-essen.de.

VOICES

WHAT WILL 2024 BRING TO THE FLOWER INDUSTRY? Jaap Kras is the former publisher of FloraCulture International

I

t is the time of the year to look back and look forward. Over the past year, 2023, we can be short. The year was not as good as the coronavirus years, but it was better than we initially expected. The increase in costs was higher with the rise in income. Costs for energy, transport, and labour especially grew fast.

This meant the income of the flower and plant companies was under pressure. Prices for roses, chrysanthemums, and orchids (such as Phalaenopsis and Cymbidium) were sour. Prices for other crops, such as carnation, were better. In general, potted plant growers had a better result than flower growers, although the bedding plant season this spring wasn’t as good as the previous years.

What were the causes? The costs of living in the biggest consumption markets, Europe and the USA, were higher through inflation, higher energy prices and higher food prices. Consumers had less money to spend on flowers and plants. These are important conclusions for 2023: costs went up drastically, and the spoken demand was under pressure, where the supply grew.

What will 2024 year bring? I cannot predict the future, but specific economic laws, certain economic codes of conduct, and past experiences provide us with something to hold on to.

Over the ages, farmers have realised that many factors from outside make the future insecure. An agricultural entrepreneur accepts that they can hardly control decisive instruments for success. Wars, political measures, weather, climate changes, fires, floods, and plagues can have unexpected influences and harm farmers/ growers enormously. If you think about this more deeply, a farmer can only try to increase his yield, improve the quality of his products, and limit his costs as far as possible. In our case, harvest more flowers/plants per m� and improve the quality of your flowers/plants.

Yes, of course, he can switch and decide to grow other crops. Not an easy decision.

Switching means enormous investments in know-how and adjustments on the farm.

In this column, I make a few remarks about what 2024 can bring in general and

specifically for the breeder, the propagator, the grower, the trader, and the retailer (florist and supermarket, including garden centres, DIY outlets, hardware shops) with a green section etc.

In general, we see the age of entrepreneurs rising, but succession needs improvement.

In the agricultural industry, we see many family companies. But the kids want to avoid taking over and running a farm. We also see that people move from the country to the cities. Further, we see that the shakeout and chain integrations go on. Fewer companies, and the ones who stay, are getting bigger and bigger. There are players, but the companies’ turnover in the ornamental industry grows — a process we will see more of in 2024. Vertical and horizontal chain integration continues, breeders also propagate, and growers produce consumer-ready products (such as bouquets and plant scales) to sell directly to the retailer.

Even growers set up sales systems (digital internet shops) directly to the consumers.

The importance of intellectual property rights will further increase. The importance of patents, breeders' rights and trademarks will increase. And that brings me to the Crisper-Cas. Finally, many breeders hope that in 2024, the EU will allow Crisper-Cas patents for agricultural crops. This is a very sensitive discussion where opponents point out the danger of these techniques for animals and humans but also fear that Crisper-Cas makes the position of breeders so strong that growers/farmers are completely dependent on them.

Crisper-Cas technology is allowed in the USA, China, and Argentina, and patents are available. Here, we hear the argument of level playing fields. We already have the United Nations Biosafety protocol with rules regarding importing and exporting genetically modified organisms for foodstuffs.

New technologies in 2023 offered opportunities. I cannot judge the influence of AI, but I am sure it will continue to influence the ornamental world. I also expect propagators will continue to invest in robots.

Already taking over this tedious job are impressive robots who can plant cuttings in a pot at a speed you hardly can take your eyes off.

Also, on a production level, automation lightens the work. In some potted plant nurseries, nobody comes in the glasshouse; employees sitting on comfortable stools do the work in the barns. Computers handle the right temperature, humidity, and food and water supply. Tools have also been developed for cut flower growers to automate or even robotise labour. Here, we must find a solution to labour shortages.

Transport. To limit transport costs, sea transport is an alternative to the more expensive air transport. Probably for carnations, chrysanthemums, and tulips, a realistic alternative for roses, I am less optimistic, although tests are being done.

Trade. Chain integration and concentration shakeouts continue. The baby boom generation has had to transfer leadership, and as said, successors are hard to find. Breeders propagate web shops and the internet, allowing companies to sell directly to retail (note retail, in my definition, is a florist and supermarket) or even consumers. The question who makes the final product? Florist, flower arrangers (parties, funerals, weddings) and bouquet/scale makers for supermarket sales.

The number of production and trading companies keeps going down, horizontal- and vertical integration, but the total turnover grows, so fewer companies strengthen their position in two ways and will be bigger than before.

Let me end with a few notes about consumption. Worldwide, the population (except in Arabian and African countries) is ageing. Older people are the consumers of ornamentals. We see the inflation going down to the government-preferred two per cent level in the EU and the USA. We see marketing efforts to have consumers buy year-round flowers and plants not only on Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother's Day, All Saints Day, and Christmas holidays.

I hope 2024 will be a successful year for the ornamental industry with rising demand, costs under control, stronger companies and increasing inventions in heating, breeding, propagating, growing and trading.

Happy New Year.

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VIS -À-VIS

Clement Tulezi, CEO of the Kenya Flower Council.

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FLOR ACULTURE INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2024

VIS -À-VIS

‘THE GOAL IS TO BE SHIPPING 50 PER CENT OF KENYAN FLOWER EXPORTS

BY THE SEA IN SEVEN YEARS’ TIME’ During a visit to the Kenya Flower Council office in Nairobi, FloraCulture International interviewed

AUTHOR AND PHOTOS: MARTA PIZ ANO

Clement Tulezi, the CEO, to discuss the current state of the Kenyan flower industry over coffee.

J

anuary 2024 marks four years since Clement Tulezi joined the Kenya Flower Council as CEO. Working in Kenya’s flower industry fits him like a glove. In a previous interview with FCI, he said, “Every day is fulfilling. There are no dull moments. The dynamism and day-to-day demands of the industry keep us on our toes.”

FloraCulture International: What was the biggest challenge brought by the pandemic?

Clement Tulezi: “Shipping and distribution, without any doubt. Before the pandemic, the transport of flowers was largely done via airfreight – between air cargo and passenger planes- and the capacity and costs were adequate. But with Covid-19, everything changed.

Passenger flights stopped altogether, and freight costs on the few remaining cargo flights skyrocketed. Even now, when things are back to normal, airfreight from Kenya is still high - probably the highest in the world at U$2.2 per kg (before the pandemic, it was U$1.5).”

How has the industry addressed this?

“The situation brought back to the table a conversation that had started 15 years ago but which had not been truly necessary at the time: sea freight. The need for an efficient, cost-effective transportation option has spurred a series of interesting initiatives, in particular the Seafreight logistics working group, a public/ private initiative launched in 2021, which brings together a variety of stakeholders and sectors: cut flower exporters, sea carriers like Kühne & Nagel or Maersk; service providers like Flowerwatch (providing postharvest and quality cut flower management) or Chrysal (cut flower food); flower, vegetable and fruit growers and exporters; the Dutch Embassy in Kenya and the Kenyan Government. The Kenya Flower Council chairs the initiative and is in charge of its coordination.”

How will this initiative be funded, and what does it comprise?

“Funding of €25 million over five years has been sourced from the European Union under the Trademark Africa Project and the Business Enhancement and Export Enhancement Programme (BEEEP).”

What is the overall goal of this project, and how is it being developed?

“The project has been conceived on a stepwise basis.

The first stage comprised research on optimum conditions for transporting different flower types, ensuring perfect conditions for moving flowers from farm to consumer: this primarily focused on achieving a perfect, uninterrupted cold chain and evaluating the benefits of using controlled atmospheres.

A second stage currently under development seeks to establish export supply hubs and deals with consolidation since only a few exporters are able to fill a shipping container fully, and it has become apparent from the first stage that it is much preferable to pack a single type of flower (sometimes even a single variety) at a time. Further, work with government agencies is underway with a goal of making necessary procedures like phytosanitary inspection the most efficient possible, completing it before containers are packed

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C IRSO- ÀP- V V P IRSOT E C T I O N

and other measures striving to avoid opening containers at any time in the distribution chain.”

The overall goal is to ship 50 per cent of Kenyan flower exports by sea in seven years’ time. This is ambitious, as currently, that proportion stands at four per cent.

However, the robust network of stakeholders working towards this end gives me much confidence.”

What are some specific hurdles encountered?

“Ground transportation, for one. Flowers ship out from the port of Mombassa, currently a good 15 hours of driving away, in refrigerated trucks.”

What about the main achievements and new goals as the project moves forward?

“We have really developed sound knowledge on maritime transport of cut flowers. When and how to ship, achieving optimum storage/shipping conditions, adapting flowers for final sale, and ND OTHERS. Complaints about quality have really gone down – rejections are below ten per cent. Also, the carbon footprint of sea freight is much lower than air freight's.

Another initiative underway is taking advantage of the existing rail transport network and making it efficient in relation to energy, time, and cost through solar power. Trains could take only seven hours to Mombassa, and powering them with solar energy is a very feasible option. We are looking into this with Flying Swan, a Dutch company with all the necessary expertise and funding from the EU.”

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Will sea freight eventually replace airfreight as the preferred mode of transport for cut flowers exported from Kenya?

“In all honesty, I don’t think so. These are complementary transport options. Airfreight is needed for a last-minute or quick fulfilment of market orders.

Sea freight requires careful planning and scheduling, and delivery can take 30 days (still, the flowers arrive in perfect condition). However, joint work with other exporting sectors – especially avocados and mangoes going to the same markets- will allow us to build up volumes and enhance logistics and could reduce shipping times to as little as ten days.”

How about markets for which maritime transport is not feasible – particularly the USA? “Before the pandemic, many of our members focused on entering the US market. This was accompanied by an effort from the Kenyan Government to establish at least five direct Kenya Airways flights to New York per week, which could offer sufficient and dedicated cargo capacity for flowers. The pandemic disrupted these plans, and flights disappeared; currently, flights to New York operate only three times a week, with no cargo capacity specifically dedicated to flowers. In fact, most of the cargo space is taken up by garments assembled in Kenya! Nevertheless, some Kenyan exporters such as Flamingo flowers have strengthened their presence in the USA, even shipping consumer-ready bouquets.”

Floriculture in Kenya is making significant progress in biological crop protection.

VIS -À-VIS

Do you have any further thoughts on the present and future of the Kenyan flower industry?

“We have come a long way. Our industry has matured and can meet stringent requirements imposed by strict European consumers; we go to great lengths, some even beyond what is strictly necessary, such as measuring MRLs (Minimum Residue Levels), something that is not required in non-food products such as flowers. We are ready to expand market access and are making strides in Asia (Japan, China, Malaysia) and the Middle East (particularly the Gulf countries).

We are solving challenges posed by demanding

markets, for example, Australia, which has stringent phytosanitary requirements.

We are well aware that, together with expanding market access, we need to diversify products and presentations.

We have started growing more flower types, including many fillers and summer flowers, some of these in the open field. We are improving packaging, promoting bouquets, and working on logistics. This is strictly within sustainability parameters, which are extremely important to us. There is much to do, but the future is optimistic.”

Tulezi: “Our industry has matured and can meet stringent requirements imposed by strict European consumers.”

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A stunning fragrant & flowering hedge

Exotic perfume, longer flowering, breakthrough breeding

For the entire range of distinctively different plants: www.tesselaar.com contactus@tesselaar.com

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF YOUR BUSINESS ON THE ENVIRONMENT?

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Let us calculate the footprint of your flowers, plants and related products GREENHOUSE-SUSTAINABILITY.COM

Environmental footprint gives you the insights you need

VIS -À-VIS

Ornamental Horticulture in Kenya: The Stats

A

s seen in the charts featured below, the three years after Covid-19 struck show fluctuating figures. The iKenyan flower industry has had to face and solve various challenges, leading to interesting solutions and new opportunities.

Kenya is the world's fourth largest exporter of fresh-cut flowers after The Netherlands, Colombia and Ecuador. The industry spans approximately 4,500 Ha,

and although roses compose the lion's share of the product mix, many other flower types are also produced, such as carnations, lilies, chrysanthemums, statice, hypericums, gypsophila, scabiosas, eryngiums, craspedias, ornithogalum, and alstroemerias, as well as many kinds of cut foliage.

Kenyan flowers reach more than 60 countries worldwide, but the primary market is by far The Netherlands, with a share of 48% (many of these flowers

Fig 1. Total cut flower exports from Kenya 2013 – 2022 based on value, figures in USD 1000s. Source: ITC Trademaps, UN Comtrade 2023.

Fig 3. Percentages of Kenyan cut flower exports reaching main destinations 2013 - 2022 (based on value, USD 1000s). Source: ITC Trademaps, UN Comtrade 2023.

are then distributed across the EU).

Nonetheless, Kenya has positioned itself as the first world exporter of roses to Japan and Australia. It has significantly increased access to a series of attractive, emerging markets, for example, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The following charts provide a snapshot of Kenyan flower exports over the past decade:.”

Fig 2. Kenyan cut flower exports by destination 2013 - 2022 (based on value, USD 1000s). Source: ITC Trademaps, UN Comtrade 2023. * Rest of the world.

Fig 4. Evolution of the product mix exported from Kenya 2013 – 2022.

Based on value, figures in USD 1000. Source: ITC Trademaps, UN Comtrade 2023.

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CO V E R S TO R Y

Ammerlaan - The Green Innovator’s perseverance in geothermal energy Dutch-based tropical plant nursery Ammerlaan - The Green Innovator is taking bold steps to minimise its environmental impact using geothermal energy. Amid January’s boom in houseplant sales, FCI speaks to the company’s co-owner Leon Ammerlaan, a horticultural entrepreneur who has

AUTHOR: RON VAN DER PLOEG

never lost his capacity to smile in good times and bad.

A

mmerlaan - The Green Innovator is a thirdgeneration tropical plant inursery in Pijnacker, the Netherlands. Established in 1959 by Leo and Arie Ammerlaan, it has since expanded into a 6.5 ha nursery where the next generation of brothers, Leon and Menno, now grow, source, and sell around one million tropical foliage plants per year for garden centres, interiorscapers, cash and carry stores and wholesalers.

CHRISTMAS TREES OUT, TROPICAL HOUSEPLANTS IN

benjamina, for example, continues to be a popular houseplant but still tends to litter the ground with its leaves. This habit is absent in the big-leaved Ficus lyrata.”

Christmas tree out, tropical houseplant in. True to tradition, the last week of December all through January, the post-Christmas period fuels a boom in large tropical houseplants. Leo Ammerlaan confides: “A new tropical houseplant replacing the Christmas tree is the ultimate way to fight the post-holiday blues. This sales peak represents 15 per cent of our annual turnover, with a growing demand for low-maintenance plants. Ficus

GLOBAL PLANT PASSION There has been a surge in demand for tropical foliage plants over the past eight years. Although a flame of a global plant passion already wavered pre-pandemically, it grew into a seemingly unstoppable wildfire during Covid-19 when many billions of people were furloughed and forced to isolate at home, leaving them with plenty of time causing them to take a greater interest in nature, houseplants and flowers. And, for three years, houseplant demand has outstripped supply by a wide margin, coupled with supply difficulties.

Things have calmed down since.

Leon Ammerlaan (aged 58) would describe the current market as “a state of equilibrium and normalcy”.

He expounds, “Demand and supply have returned to pre-pandemic levels. The good news is that houseplants are here to stay. Not only do they enhance the overall appearance of a living or an office space, but research has found that houseplants improve people’s health and well-being and help purify the air. We need to make our planet more sustainable, and plants are arguably one of the best tools to do that.”

Calathea oppenheimiana.

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CO V ER S TO R Y

THREE FUNDAMENTAL PILLARS The success of the Ammerlaan brother’s business relies on three fundamental pillars: plant import, production, and trade.

Starting material is sourced mainly from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Togo, and Burundi, where a Belgian entrepreneur grows Dracaena plants.

The Ammerlaan brothers acclimatise imported plant material into hardened-off, finished Dracaena, Aspidistra, Yucca, Croton, Howea Kentia, Sansevieria, palm trees, Calathea, and Philodendron. Suitable for the indoor climate. Ammerlaan is a one-stop shop for a large variety of tropical plants, from the rare and unusual ones such as Dracaena ‘Burley’ to the more commonplace Yucca in horticulture today. Up to 70 per cent of the company’s houseplants are soil-grown, and the remaining are hydroculture plants.

Many houseplant professionals in the Netherlands will remember how thousands of plants were culled at two plant nurseries after discovering the guava root-knot nematode in a shipment of Ficus microcarpa Ginseng from China.

In the face of the EU’s Green Deal strategies and European retailers looking into the possibility of introducing maximum residue level (MRLs) and pre-harvest periods as ‘good agricultural practice’, the plant nursery does its utmost to refrain from using chemical inputs for fertility and disease control.

Ammerlaan elaborates, “To

Leon Ammerlaan shows a drone with which they monitor and eliminate pests with a variation in success rates.

True to tradition, the last week of December and throughout January, the postChristmas period fuels a boom in large tropical houseplants.

keep our plants healthy, we use biocontrols, biopesticides, drones and biostimulants. Thrips parvispinus is a tropical thrips species. It was first detected in the Netherlands in July 2019 and has become more widely established in plant nurseries throughout the Netherlands, Southern Europe, and North America. To combat it, we use Neudosan, a broad-spectrum insecticide/acaricide of natural origin containing several potassium salt/fatty acid compounds extracted from rapeseed which have multiple effects.”

Neudosan is manufactured by Certis Belchim and is permitted

KEEPING PLANTS HEALTHY Importing vegetative plant material from all corners of the world is a possible pathway for the entry of pests and diseases.

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B I OVDEIRV ER CO S TO S IRT YY

in ornamental crops as well as in many open fields and protected food crops. The active substances seriously affect the skin's cell structure or the exoskeleton of insects and spider mites at all stages of development, i.e., from egg to adult.

For all the efforts in biological crop control, the reality is that a 100 per cent bug-free houseplant with the diminishing pesticide options available is becoming increasingly challenging. Ammerlaan declares, “Perhaps we should cultivate broader acceptance among our customers, being frank with them and explaining that occasionally a plant is susceptible to bugs.”

PEAT FREE While we are on the subject of sustainability, to what extent does Ammerlaan feel pressure to reduce the use of peat? Ammerlaan asserts, “We are currently looking into the solutions and alternatives.

Peat-free in hydroculture plants is possible; in our soil-grown plants, the proportion of used peat has fallen to 50 per cent. But reducing peat is complex as it will become increasingly difficult for us to guarantee that our plants will last a reasonable length of time.

Growing plants peat-free means significantly more watering.

Our fear is that experience and satisfaction will drop once the end consumer discovers that peatfree plants quickly deteriorate without additional watering. So far, only British retailers have been increasingly specifying peat-free products.”

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY At Ammerlaan – The Green Innovator Nursery, a high level of sustainability (and thus a minimal footprint on the environment) is achieved through several operational practices. Such as the use of geothermal energy to heat the nursery’s greenhouse plus 28 neighbouring greenhouse growers, housing blocks including 543 apartments, a secondary school, a garden centre, a public

The newly drilled doublet finds itself in the heart of the nursery.

access swimming pool and a gym. Geothermal heat yields 12,500,000m� per year savings in natural gas and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 22,250 tonnes.

The Ammerlaan brothers began to investigate the potential of alternatives to gas 16 years ago.

This was when gas prices soared from 10 cents to 42 cents on the back of the oil price increase, which exceeded 140 dollars per barrel in 2008. Plus, customers were

WHAT IS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY? Geothermal energy is sustainable heat from the subsoil, which can heat houses, other buildings, and greenhouses. Hot water is pumped up from great depths, cooled and returned. Water goes up through one pipe, and the same water goes down again through a second pipe. Together, the pipes are called a ‘doublet’.

Due to fluid temperature and salinity, corrosion of piping can occur.

Geothermal tech at Ammerlaan.

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CO V ER S TO R Y

increasingly starting to ask for the company’s green credentials.

Geothermal energy presented good opportunities in the family’s hometown, Pijnacker. In 2010, they established a geothermal well and started a separate company, Ammerlaan Geothermie.

RE-ENERGISING THE PROJECT To further explain, groundwater at a temperature of 73 degrees was pumped up at a capacity of 180cu-m/ water per hour, passed through a heat exchanger to warm up water in a closed-loop connected to the greenhouses and then returned to the ground – a pocket of sand and sandstone – via the reinjection well.

But then, in 2017, a streak of bad luck happened, as a stuck pipe event occurred at a 1km depth.

Eventually, it resulted in the loss of the well, forcing the company to drill a second well, which has been operational since late 2019.

Eventually, the city council of Pijnacker Nootdorp stepped up with a significant loan package to reboot and re-energise the project.

With a pump capacity of 360 cubic metres of water per hour and a temperature of 80 degrees, the capacity of the second well is significantly higher, which led to an additional ten growers linked into the geothermal well.

TRIAL AND ERROR Funded in part by the Ammerlaan brothers’, and the Pijnacker Nootdorp city council (a party which has currently withdrawn), Rabobank, BNG Bank, Meewind, and National Groenfonds, the geothermal plant at Ammerlaan Geothermie has cost an undisclosed amount of money to build - it is clear that it requires deep pockets. Mr Ammerlaan anticipates that by 2038, the project will start to make a profit if no further problems occur.

Fourteen years ago, the Ammerlaan brothers were the first ornamentals growers to try their luck in geothermal energy. Responding to our question about whether the project lives up to their expectations, Ammerlaan replied: “The actual costs of the project

exceeded its estimated budget.

Also, when we started in 2010, not so much was known about this kind of project. So, we have had to learn the ropes, and it has been a process of trial and error.”

WARMTELINQ Geothermal continues to be a relatively new technology in the Netherlands, and supply from any particular well can sometimes go down for a period of time, even for a few months.

Therefore, Ammerlaan has set his hopes on WarmtelinQ. This project will see hot water conveyed from industrial plants at Rotterdam to heat homes and offices in Vlaardingen/Schiedam, Midden-Delfland, Delft, Rijswijk, The Hague and Leiden, and then returned to the port to be heated up again. A series of branches are also planned, hopefully one to Pijnacker.

We ask what makes WarmtelinQ so promising. Ammerlaan replies: “WarmtelinQ will connect geothermal wells in one network and hook into an underground pipeline carrying waste heat from Rotterdam. It will allow us to deliver heat year-round, selling to/buying from the grid in the event of a shortage. It also leads

Leon and his daughter Kayleigh Ammerlaan.

to a significant reduction of the carbon footprint.”

Currently, the potential heat supply from the industries at Rotterdam is plentiful, which could all change in the future depending on the direction of government policy and industrial energy economics. Even if, for example, some existing oil refineries were wound up, they might be replaced by hydrogen production [to replace gas as a source of energy] generated using electricity from offshore wind, which creates heat as a byproduct.

Could it be that there will be less waste heat available in the future?

Ammerlaan responds, “Such a scenario is possible indeed. But we expect to see continuing and important energy savings in the future, so several geothermal wells will suffice to deliver the energy.”

Because geothermal energy is so new in the Netherlands, it is also uncertain and unknown. How do you assess its possible long-term effects, we ask? Ammerlaan asserts, “Geothermal is relatively innocent; in essence, you pump up one cubic metre of hot water and, cooled down, reinject it into the ground immediately. As long as nothing is removed, there are no consequences.”

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A relative newcomer to hardy fern breeding, propagation and marketing has been founded on a company’s threedecade expertise in tissue culture reproduction of tropical ferns in the Netherlands. Vitro Plus co-owner John Bijl chose to diversify into perennial ferns because of the plant’s unrivalled beauty and fantastic variety, pent-up consumer demand, the product’s compelling narrative, and a desire to explore new territory.

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AUTHOR AND PHOTOS: RON VAN DER PLOEG

Ferns-believer: Vitro Plus is now offering hardy ferns with excellent results from its ‘Magic Box’ laboratory

L

ife is full of surprises when you least expect it. John Bijl (aged 62), the son of a grower, grew up at the family nursery in Dordrecht. There were always many gardening chores, some more bearable and enjoyable than others. He reminisces, “The one job I particularly disliked was the cleaning and weeding of ferns.

I vividly remember how I hated

Polystichum polyblepharum.

FERNS

ferns because keeping them tidy and healthy was tedious, dirty, and time-consuming. Looking back in hindsight, it is rather surprising how gradually I developed a passion for these plants.”

THE UPCOMING SCIENCE OF PLANT TISSUE CULTURE Bijl studied biology at a young age, fuelling his desire to learn more about ornamental plant

propagation. He recalls, “After college, I did microbiological research and worked as a lab assistant in a hospital, test tubes being my familiar pieces of equipment. Meanwhile, a newfangled way of plant propagation emerged called tissue culture, and the tech and science part of it really struck my fancy.

By then, I worked as a biology teacher and decided to combine

Vitro Plus’s co-owner John Bijl is posing in the company’s newly built Hardy Fern lab in BurghHaamstede.

this job with a tissue culture laboratory in orchids and ferns. We opted for tropical ferns first because of the product’s significant and stable ranking and a desire at the grower’s level to multiply by tissue culture to reduce labour costs and achieve more reliable and healthy plants.”

With Kees Zevenbergen as co-founder, Vitro Plus started as a side project. Bijl recalls how he

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Vitro Plus’s Micha van der Burgwal doublechecks plantlets before they are hardened off in a greenhouse.

started the business without any outside financing, working from his home in Dordrecht at his kitchen table, then later in a Portakabin.

One of Vitro Plus’s first customers was the family business, where he had worked as a youngster.

Bijl says, “The company was reproducing their ferns by division of rhizomes but wanted to replace this technique by tissue culture.

Apparently, they relied on my study background, bringing ferns over and asking me if I could multiply them by this new technique.”

Initially, the idea was to set up a tissue culture lab to mass propagate popular orchids and ferns. Bijl explains, “However, this part of the operations was divested because our work in orchids wasn’t good enough and turned out to be too labourintensive. And no, shifting tissue culture production to developing countries, where labour is cheaper,

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about fine-tuning operations and enhancing crop quality, yields, and sustainability. In the 2000s, for example, Vitro Plus was an early adaptor of LED lighting in multi-tier growth chambers for the propagation of tropical ferns.

Thirteen years later, LEDs allow Vitro Plus to maximise the company’s production while saving energy costs and culture space.

Vitro Plus also owns a patent protecting its growing system, of which a Vitro Plus tray, plug, and permeable foil are integral parts.

The system is used to grow tissue culture and spore-raised fern plantlets in a sterile environment, a pre-requisite for shipping starting material to the USA, known as the world’s biggest fern market (see side panel). It gives the business a competitive advantage over others.

Vitro Plus also created quite a stir when it introduced Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Nevada’, aka the Nevada Fern. Since its discovery, the fern has continued revolutionising the global market with its dark green and vigorous foliage and in-built drought resistance.

was not an option as I always want to have a sense of control of my work.”

ROADMAP TO SUCCESS Despite his background in (micro) biology and, apart from being intellectually curious and interested in tech, things were not easy in the beginning. Little did Mr Bijl know about fern propagation through tissue culture. There was no textbook, and the scarce knowledge that existed was protected and not free to use.

While he candidly admits that a fledgling Vitro Plus in 1990 put little care and thought into crafting a business model, the firm’s roadmap to success is clearly paved with patented innovations and the introduction of new breeding breakthroughs.

The strategy mostly boils down to doing things differently and better

FLOR ACULTURE INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2023

'WE CUT THE FRONDS, DRY THEM, CLEAN THEM, AND COLLECT THE SPORES, WHICH SOMETIMES NEED HELP TO FALL OFF. THERE ARE SO MANY SPORES ON ONE LEAF THAT QUANTITY IS NOT A PROBLEM, BUT QUALITY SURE IS'

FERNS

ENTERING THE HARDY FERN MARKET The news of the moment is that the company is entering the adjacent market for hardy ferns. In 2020, Vitro Plus completed a two-story building adjacent but separated from their existing tropical fern lab in the medieval town of Burgh Haamstede (providing the Fern King with 5,000m2 additional lab space, offices, and a canteen).

Today, Vitro Plus’s total growth space spans 10,000m2 with an annual output of 50 million plantlets.

The new Burgh-Haamstede facility (75km south of Rotterdam) offers a fully conditioned growing environment without natural daylight.

The fern propagator ensures that the new business complex minimises the company’s environmental footprint; solar panels provide electricity for the LED lighting, smart cultivation techniques save water, and pesticides are unnecessary thanks to the closed-loop system. They are meeting the increasing demand for ferns worldwide.

The new building allows Vitro Plus to double its annual production to meet the increasing demand for (less common) hardy ferns worldwide.

A NEW FERN CRAZE IN THE MAKING? Commenting on the current state of the global fern market, Mr Bijl says, “Stable trade volumes have marked the past two decades.

At the same time, we can see a significant change in consumer behaviour with a growing demand for unusual ferns. In the old days, Nephrolepis dominated the market, but currently, consumers are keenly interested in ferns that don’t look like ferns.”

It would be somewhat far-fetched to suggest that the world is seized by a new fern craze as seen in the Victorian era (1850-1890), but Bijl thinks that houseplants haven’t quite reached their popularity peak.

A more eco-conscious consumer intends to keep spending on products that enhance their health and well-being. Some ferns, such as the tiny Azolla, can capture CO2 and nitrogen from the air and are piggybacking on a global eco-trend.

VITRO PLUS LAUNCHES CONSUMER WEBSITE IN CONJUNCTION WITH NEW FERN BRAND In conjunction with its new Cedar House Ferns brand, Vitro Plus announces the launch of a new website, www.cedarhouseferns.com.

Many types of hardy ferns are also popular plants for the garden, but they have long played a kind of subdued role, often considered as a side crop at perennial plant nurseries and in garden retail.

Selling hardy ferns is not always easy. The deciduous types lose their leaves in winter, and empty-looking pots do not quickly fly off the garden centre shelves.

With this in mind, Vitro Plus launched Cedar House Ferns, a new B2C fern brand to help ferns rise in prominence.

The Cedar House Fern logo illustrates a Victorianstyle greenhouse featuring wooden frames and ornate decorative elements. In real life, the greenhouse is surrounded by a spectacular woodland garden in Burgh Haamstede that will eventually host more than 300 different fern species. It also includes a log-style guesthouse not far from Vitro Plus headquarters. The garden and greenhouse are open to the public, but visitors must book their visit in advance.

The Cedar House Fern brand did not happen overnight.

Mr Bijl explains, “For a few years, we have participated in castle flower, and plant shows such as Kalmthout, Trompenburg and Beervelde. Here, we showcased our perennial fern range to determine what consumers like most.”

Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’ detail.

The next step is a Cedar House Ferns display at Groenrijk’s garden centre in Middelburg next spring. The fern area promises to be very different from standard retail displays, including wooden timber frames, wooden plant labels, biodegradable pots, and lots of compelling storytelling. Mr Bijl asserts, “The area will create a real wow factor. We will explain how the Victorian Fern Craze fuelled the arrival of many fern species in the UK and Europe and how, in modern times, we hunt for ferns in the Himalayas or Africa. We also highlight the fern’s air and soil-purifying capabilities. Research has found that some ferns efficiently remove inorganic and organic contaminants from the environment. For example, in 1996, NASA research referenced Nephrolepis as an ideal air-purifying plant.

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OBTAINING NEW VARIETIES There are several ways to obtain new varieties. Spontaneous genetic variation is one of the motors of fern evolution, with Vitro Plus’s earlier mentioned Nevada Fern or Phlebodium aureum ‘Davana’ – a blue star type fern that stands out for its ruffled, bluish-green foliage – being shining mutation examples.

A second method is plant exploration. For this, Vitro Plus collaborates with modern plant explorers who ‘hunt’ ferns in woods, among rocks, in mountain ranges and waterfalls worldwide.

Ultimately, the goal is to find species with significant commercial potential. But this is a delicate exercise as conserving biodiversity and respecting the principles of the Nagoya Protocol is also at stake.

A third possibility is to undertake high-precision cross-fertilisation of spores in the laboratory. Bijl notes, “We are testing the waters, but it is still too early to announce outcomes of our fern breeding programme.

We sell a few crossing varieties, but until now, they have been found by third parties. Generally speaking, opportunities to expand our hardy fern portfolio are plentiful and exciting.”

SPORE PROPAGATION Ten years ago, Bijl started to read the first stories about the Victorian fern craze that turned him into

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a fervent hardy fern proponent.

He explains, “I realised how compelling the product’s narrative is, how nearly all layers of British society back then were bitten by the fern bug, collecting, growing, and exchanging varieties. Then, I asked myself, if there are so many intriguing stories about hardy ferns, why not propagate them and use storytelling and a consumer brand as powerful communication tools.”

Bijl acknowledges that propagating hardy ferns has a specific set of challenges. “Because of our in-depth experience gained in meristem culture for tropical ferns, we first tried to reproduce the hardy specimens through tissue culture.

This model proved unprofitable as it comes with competition against cheaper spore-raised hardy ferns.

Interestingly, some species, such as Athyrium niponicum, aka the Japanese painted fern, are unstable when multiplied through spores, so we have recourse to tissue culture.

These niche-type varieties are higher priced, compensating for the more expensive tissue culture.

Spores can be yellow, green, brown, or black. Matteuccia features green spores, which complicate propagation. So, also for these ferns, we use tissue culture.”

There has long been a certain mystery surrounding the spore reproduction of hardy ferns.

Bever Innovations’s Leaf Carrier LED panels look somewhat like giant LED TV screens.

Until the refinement of optical equipment in the mid-19th century, it was unknown how ferns developed.

Then, research unveiled all the unknowns about these ancient plants that inhabited the Earth long before the dinosaurs. Ferns do not flower, are seedless and reproduce sexually from spores.

There are two distinct stages of the fern life cycle: the diploid generation, consisting of sporophytes, thus spore-bearing plants, and the haploid generation, represented by tiny heart-shaped plantlets, aka the prothallia or gametophytes. These contain the sperm and egg. When conditions are damp enough, the sperm swims to the ovum and fertilises, eventually resulting in a new sporophyte or spore-bearing fern.

Bijl explains, “Vitro Plus’s greenhouses in Zierikzee host mother stock plant for harvesting spores. For that, we cut the fronds, dry them, clean them, and collect the spores, which sometimes need help to fall off.

“There are so many spores on one leaf that quantity is not a problem, but quality sure is. So, we thoroughly test the spore quality under the microscope and sow test best batches to decide the germination rate.”

Compared to tissue culture, spore propagation is complex

FERNS

but significantly less labourintensive. The key to successful spore propagation lies in a clean (in-house) sterilised substrate to stay away from fungi and insect eggs. Sterilising the growing media is a delicate balancing act as it must not be 100 per cent sterile because then spores won’t germinate.

Bijl continues, “Depending on the variety, there are fewer or more spores per cocopeat plug, which sits in a Vitro Plus tray. Subsequently, trays are watered, sealed with permeable Vitro Plus foil and put into the growth chambers under LED lights.”

The transformation from a spore to a gametophyte and subsequently into a sporophyte happens in the same sealed and sterile trays, which only open upon arrival at customers in the USA and Australia.

This unique cultivation method is patented and allows the company to export their fern starter plants worldwide. Vitro Plus customers abroad, read growers, transplant the sporelings manually or with the help of robotic transplanters.

The company offers hardened off-quality liners for Dutch and European customers.

Bijl notes, “The time from spore to gametophyte takes between 10-16 weeks, and another 10-15 weeks to obtain a sporophyte plant. Effective communication with our customers is vital so that they understand we cannot eliminate steps in the cultivation process to trim lead times. Therefore, we encourage them to pre-order at least six months upfront.”

NEW TYPES OF CUSTOMERS Venturing into the hardy fern market, Bijl says, also comes with a new type of customer. “Buyers of hardy fern starting material are mostly perennial plant growers; their nurseries have a different layout and also tend to have a different customer base, selling directly to garden retailers.

Plus, perennial plant growers grow a wide plant range with many varieties produced in smaller quantities. Plants are frequently higher-priced, and the knowledge

Even in the Dutch winter garden, this Polystichum munitum (western sword fern) performs well and continues to be visually appealing.

TROPICAL FERNS VERSUS HARDY FERNS The terms tropical ferns, with which Vitro Plus earned strong brand recognition over the past 33 years, and hardy ferns can be used interchangeably as the hardiness of ferns depends on their native extent’s geographic location, longitude, latitude, and elevation. Mr Bijl explains, “What in Europe is known as a fern for indoors can be suitable for growing outdoors in Florida.

Some ferns you grow outside are also suitable for indoors and the other way around, but not always.

It is a complex matter, but we try to make it easy for people to understand.”

Dryopteris championii.

The world’s hardiness zones help people decide which ferns they should plant with the best chances of survival. Mr Bijl notes, “In the face of climate change, these climate zones are shifting.

Fern hardiness also depends on the species’ natural habitat and the altitude at which they grow. Fern hunters also explore, for example, the Ethiopian highlands (where they found Asplenium aethiopicum) or the Himalaya Mountain range.

There are billions of spores moving around the world, and basically, you can find fern species where you would never have expected them.”

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level of hardy fern growers is quite high.”

As hardy ferns were relatively new to Vitro Plus, the company decided to put additional time into studying and testing the features and benefits of the portfolio, which currently consists of around 70 varieties, with a hundred more being a work in progress.

The company’s hardy ferns are also planted out in a purpose-built show garden that bears the same name as the firm’s new consumer brand for hardy ferns: Cedar House Ferns (see side panel). Bijl explains, “Here we learn how our varieties perform in nature. Also, we dived into the tech part of spore propagation, which completely differs from tissue culture. We chose to grow all hardy fern plantlets in a lab using what I always call ‘our magic box’, an absolute first in hardy fern propagation.”

Traditional in vivo young plant growers increasingly use Vitro Plus’s magical multilayer climate chambers as an example of plant propagation 2.0.

And this is not without a reason.

'WE CHOSE TO GROW ALL HARDY FERN PLANTLETS IN A LAB USING WHAT I ALWAYS CALL 'OUR MAGIC BOX', AN ABSOLUTE FIRST IN HARDY FERN PROPAGATION'

Inside Vitro Plus’ Victorian greenhouse.

Pictured are Microsorum musifolium ‘Crocodyllus’ (crocodile fern) and a tree fern called Cyathea cooperi..

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FERNS

THE STATE OF THE GLOBAL FERN MARKET The USA is by far the primary market for tropical and perennial ferns. English and Scottish immigrant communities in the USA found comfort in the fern tradition from their homeland, and today, Americans are very familiar with the plant.

The USA’s combined fern growers are good for an estimated annual output of 20 million plants.

In America’s East Coast, particularly in Florida, ferns are widely used in hanging baskets.

Vitro Plus ships 80 per cent of their fern plantlets directly to the end growers, and a few go to the rooting stations. Europe and Australia rank as the second and third largest fern markets, respectively.

Australia has a growth potential. The country suffered drought a few years ago, but the situation is now better.

Europe grows an estimated 20 million fern plants, with Dutch fern growers dominating supplies.

Denmark used to be big in smaller-sized ferns but has mostly disappeared from the market.

Europe’s largest fern consumer market, Germany, sources them mainly from the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, the area down to tropical fern production is an estimated 20-30ha, with large-scale producers such as De Boer, VDA, Raatschelders and Bunnik growing the largest portion of plants.

Vitro Plus Victorian greenhouse in summer.

Under the EU’s Farm to Fork and Green Deal strategies, and with mandatory Integrated Pest Management (IPM) anchored in EU legislation, starter plant professionals see their pesticide cabinets empty rapidly. Bijl explains, “By growing your plantlets under controlled and sterile laboratory conditions, you can reduce the application of crop protection chemicals. Tissue culture also allows year-round and high-density production, rapid and controlled plant growth.”

Despite the many meristem merits, there are several reasons why Vitro Plus prefers to stick to its ferns instead of developing into a

full-service supplier for contract plant propagation. He elaborates, “Propagating different crops and gaining in-depth knowledge of each of these crops is perhaps impossibly difficult. In such a scenario, we would merely be the go-to place for tech. But such quick wins will not build a great product and a longterm sustainable business.

“At Vitro Plus, it is not only about tech, but our unique selling points also include plant breeding and propagation expertise, fern variety and product and marketing knowledge.

“We want to tick all the boxes so that our ferns help our customers succeed.”

Dryopteris erythrosora.

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BEI O T CD H I V ER S I T Y

Collaboration and consolidation will create the scale needed for greenhouse construction The war in Ukraine, following hot on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic, has resulted in challenging times for the greenhouse construction industry. Just as many projects were able to get

AUTHOR: SPENCE GUNN

underway again, the sector faced significant increases in the cost of materials.

D

utch builders and technology suppliers are responsible for 80 to 90 per cent of the world’s new greenhouses. Annual construction had been running at around 3,500ha, mostly glass. However, while many constructors think the demand is certainly still there – the disruption to international floriculture and fresh produce supply chains over the last couple of years has led to new opportunities, as ‘local’ production assumes more importance – some say they ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if less will be built this year and next.

RISING RAW MATERIAL PRICES “Greenhouse construction costs have risen 20 to 30 per cent in the past year to 18 months due to the higher cost of energy-intensive raw materials, especially steel and aluminium,” says Pieter van Berchum, recently retired as operational director of Gakon Netafim Greenhouse Projects. He is just coming to the end of his term as a board member for AVAG, the trade body for the Netherlands greenhouse construction industry.

Glass prices have increased, too, he says. More than 50 per cent of greenhouse glass had been sourced from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.

Now, the market relies on Asia,

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which affects transport costs and import duties.

Project scheduling has also been challenging because some materials suppliers have reduced capacity to control their costs, leading to uncertain delivery times. Growers and investors are also faced with higher interest rates.

Some constructors say higher costs have led growers to cut back on project specifications elements.

Others say project costs have been impacted but not affected customers’ decisions.

Greenhouse construction, Monopoli, Puglia, Italy.

HEAT PUMPS ARE HOT “We explain to customers that this is an investment in a facility with a life of 20 years or more,” says Mike Vermeij, CEO of Bom Group, one of the largest Netherlandsbased international constructors.

“Over that period, the extra costs per kg or stem of product is less significant.

He adds, “Overall, it’s the higher energy costs growers are facing that is having a greater influence on what they decide.”

He points to the four greenhouse

TECH

vegetable nurseries Bom has recently built in the UK that use heat pumps for a sustainable heat supply. “This is a major trend globally,” he says. “The technology is proving itself as a way for growers to depend much less on gas.”

SOLAR PANELS Solar panels are also finding a place on the greenhouse roof. “They are particularly relevant to floriculture, where you’re looking for shade for most crops,” says Mr Vermeij.

“Last year, we completed around 15 projects partially re-glazing cultivation or service areas with solar PV. At the same time, we often replace the remaining glazing with diffuse glass to improve light penetration around the crop.”

SEMI-CLOSED GREENHOUSE The need to reduce energy use has seen a lot of focus on the ‘semi-closed’ greenhouse and its associated technology, with development primarily driven by the edible crops sector.

“Semi-closed is a very broad concept and does not always have to involve a lot of technology to achieve the desired result,” says Mr

van Berchum.

“Going forward, the main driver for technological development will be the ability to control microclimates in fine detail so all plants receive optimum conditions. There will also be a focus on ‘big data’ ¬– using data recorded from climate computers to control your climate computer.”

Bom Group was one of the pioneers of semi-closed greenhouses.

“We’re fully committed to it for high-value crops, but for most ornamentals, the investment required isn’t justified – one reason being there is still enough production capacity or potential in regions of the world where the climate is more benign,” says Mr Vermeij. “In most situations, a normal high-tech glasshouse is enough.”

Some elements of the semi-closed concept could apply to floriculture, but the level of investment rules out even a ‘halfway house’ in most cases. It does have a place in areas with more challenging environments or where there is a demand for higher value crops such as Phalaenopsis orchids and cut roses, says Mr Vermeij.

“There is particular interest

Being able to address more extensive and more complex projects is essential for long-term stability and for growth. Pictured is the UK-based greenhouse vegetables project Crown Point.

in new builds where breeding companies are now co-investing with growers to develop new crops and markets, and we expect some will be looking to use semi- or even fully closed technology in the near future,” he says.

ADAPTIVE GREENHOUSE DESIGN Here is a sense of adapting greenhouse design and specifications to local conditions and resources, says Jouke Campen, international project manager for greenhouse horticulture at Wageningen University and Research (WUR).

WUR’s adaptive greenhouse design computer model helps those specifying new greenhouses to tailor design and technology to the climate and market demands.

Data on climate, available services such as power, water and labour, and crop type is used to generate a design calculated to generate optimum yields and quality for the least inputs.

“There has been a lot of interest worldwide,” says Dr Campen. “That includes investors looking to gain an insight into the feasibility of their projects, growers in places

BEI O T CD H I V ER S I T Y

like the Netherlands setting up nurseries in other regions who want to know what level of technology is appropriate, and governments developing food security strategies.”

He says the model can help avoid ‘over-specifying’ a project.

“This can be the case where market returns can’t justify the investment, for example, in floriculture, if there is little price premium for quality,” he says.

Most of the interest in the model so far has come from the greenhouse salads sector. Still, Dr Campen says there are benefits for the floriculture industry – to optimise irrigation and fertigation systems, for example, or identify how to control humidity more efficiently.

CLIMATE CHANGE Undoubtedly, wherever growers are in the world, climate change is becoming a challenge. “That’s especially so for ornamentals,” says Mr Vermeij.

“For example, most production in China is in polytunnels, but temperatures there are becoming more extreme, and drought is more frequent. So, growers are moving to glasshouses with mid-range technology to improve quality and enable year-round production. Bom has recently built several hectares of this type of glasshouse in China

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for three companies producing solely for the home market.”

WHERE WILL FUTURE GROWTH COME FROM? Pieter van Berchum suggests most growth in terms of new projects in the last few years has been in North America, Australia, the Middle East and Central Asia, driven by consumer demand for greater food security and fewer food mile More recently, growth has slowed in North America, which Mr Vermeij puts down to a combination of interest rates, costs, and market pressures. Local politics also play a part in Canada, where municipalities have turned against large concentrations of high-tech greenhouses, so planning permissions are taking longer.

(Left) Mike Vermeij, CEO of Bom Group.

(Right) Pieter van Berchum was formerly the operational director of Gakon Netafim Greenhouse Projects. (Below) More than 50 per cent of greenhouse glass had been sourced from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Now, the market relies on Asia, which affects transport costs and import duties.

In contrast, geopolitics has made Russia a no-go area for international constructors, says Mr van Berchum.

No matter where you look, projects are getting bigger, leading to more collaboration and consolidation among greenhouse builders and technology companies.

“For some, that has entailed private equity investment,” says Vermeij.

“For Bom and some others, we didn’t want to get involved with private equity, so instead, we scaled up by joining forces, creating Atrium Agri. We can support each other but remain as separate companies.”

He adds: “Being able to address bigger and more complex projects is essential for long-term stability and for growth – for which we are prepared and ready.”

2024

THE IGOTY AWARDS On Tuesday 23rd January, at the AIPH-approved Trade show IPM ESSEN, the industry’s most prestigious award ceremony will celebrate the best ornamentals producers and name the AIPH

AUTHOR: HANNAH PINNELLS

International Grower of the Year 2024.

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stablished in 2009 with the support of Founding Partner FCI, the AIPH International Grower of the Year (IGOTY) Awards celebrate best practice and recognise the top ornamentals producers in the industry.

The 2024 IGOTY Awards Ceremony returns to Essen, Germany, in collaboration with Host Sponsor IPM Essen. This year, ahead of the prestigious awards ceremony, AIPH is pleased to be presenting ‘Seeds of Success’ featuring Keynote Speaker Ynzo van Zanten, followed by a panel session comprising previous AIPH IGOTY Awards winners and led by Ed Smit and Renee Snijders of Jungle Talks.

Michael Perry, aka Mr Plant Geek, will join as the event’s MC. Later in the evening, he will be accompanied by and Sirekit Mol, Head of Commercial Operations for Beekenkamp Plants BV, to announce the winners of the Awards.

The awards are presented in five categories, but only one winner will be crowned the ‘AIPH International Grower of the Year 2024’ and receive the ‘Gold Rose’ – the industry’s most coveted prize last won by Brookdale Treeland Nurseries Ltd, Canada (pictured above).

FLOR ACULTURE INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2024

PREVIOUS GOLD ROSE WINNERS 2023: Brookdale Treeland Nurseries Ltd, Canada 022: Metrolina Greenhouses, USA 2 2020: Anthura BV, the Netherlands 2019: Gediflora, Belgium 2018: Ter Laak Orchids, the Netherlands 2017: Flores El Capiro S.A., Colombia 2016: Costa Farms, USA 2014: Schoneveld Nurseries, the Netherlands 2013: Sheridan Nurseries, Canada 2012: Sheridan Nurseries, Canada 2011: Bylands, Canada 2010: Hillier Nurseries, UK 2009: Sylva van Hulle, Belgium

AWARD CATEGORIES inished Plants and Trees; for finished plants and trees F that are ready for final sale.

Cut Flowers and Bulbs; for flowers and foliage cut for indoor decorative use and bulbs.

Young Plants; including cuttings, plugs, liners, seedlings etc. which are sold or grown on.

Sustainability; for best practice and innovation.

Young International Grower of the Year; for the most inspiring young grower aged 25-40.

THE CRITERIA Judges look at the following criteria before selecting the winners. The nominated horti­culture business needs to demonstrate: Economic performance; the best businesses must be profitable to remain productive and deliver ongoing developments.

Innovation; the best businesses must be innovative, bringing something new to the industry or market, doing something differently and pushing boundaries.

Market Insight; the best businesses will understand their market and customers inside out.

Sustainability; the best businesses will be sustainable, with demanding environmental and social standards, practices and ambitions.

People Policy; the best businesses will value their human resources and foster a working environment of unity, respect and reward.

Chair - Tim Edwards, UK Horticultural Consultant

Bernard Oosterom, Netherlands, Past AIPH President

THE FINALISTS Jeff Olsen, Canada CEO of Brookdale Treeland Nurseries Ltd and past IGOTY winner

Nine ornamental horticulture growers from around the world have reached the finals. Commenting on the final list, Jury Chair Tim Edwards said: “From many high quality entries, it is always a difficult job to select those companies that should go forward for prizes in this important competition. Those that have reached this list can be sincerely proud of having done so. It is thrilling to see such high quality businesses operating in our industry.”

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

Hiroshi Sakata, Japan President of the Japan Home Garden Association

Host Sponsor

Sapphire Sponsor

Pearl Sponsors

Elien Pieters, Belgium CEO of Gediflora and past IGOTY winner

Charlie Hall, USA Professor at Texas A&M University

Clement Tulezi, Kenya CEO of the Kenya Flower Council

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BEYOND CHRYSANT, NETHERLANDS Beyond Chrysant, operational since 1938, specialises in cultivating highquality Chrysanthemums in a sustainable and innovative way. The company’s focus isn’t being the largest, but on staying ahead, leading the flower sector.

Collaboration with partners is key in achieving these objectives. Through ongoing partnerships with suppliers and customers, Beyond Chrysant continually improves by embracing the latest technologies and operational methods. This includes repurposing waste as building materials, enhancing the cold chain process, and integrating workers with a distance to labour market. Additionally, the company maintains regular communication with florists to reduce waste at every stage of the supply chain. This commitment to sustainable growth and partnership will lead to zero emission in 2030 and underscores Beyond Chrysant’s dedication to excellence in the industry.

“At Beyond Chrysant we are extremely honoured to be listed as a finalist for IGOTY 2024. The horticultural sector experiences a lot of challenges in our country nowadays.

This prize is a great boost for our sector and fellow-horticultural companies in The Netherlands!”

FITORALIA, SPAIN Fitoralia, founded in 2013, is the evolution of a family nursery created by the parents of the current owner-partners. From its humble beginnings, the company has evolved to become a benchmark in the production of plants for home vegetable garden enthusiasts. Specialising in the category of plants destined for alimentary consumption, Fitoralia takes pride in offering an extensive catalogue of varieties in multiple sizes and presentations, including annual and perennial plants, as well as fruit trees for the home orchard. With a deep-rooted commitment to quality and tradition, while not forgetting innovation and sustainability, the company has maintained the passion for horticulture that drove it from its early days as a family nursery. With steady growth and a vision projected into the future, Fitoralia continues to nurture interest in gardening, providing customers with the best plants to develop their own green spaces.

“We are absolutely delighted and thrilled to have been named finalists for the IGOTY awards. This recognition fills us with joy, and just being nominated alongside such important companies is the greatest honour and the best prize.”

GREENWOOD PLANTS, UK Greenwood Plants is a landscape supply nursery which specialises in the new build property, commercial, and infrastructure sectors. With over 100 acres of production capacity, it produces around six million plants a year across its six nursery sites in the UK, and employees more than 120 people. Greenwood aims to become the best in the horticultural industry through the consistent delivery of an effortless client experience. It is an award-winning sustainability leader, a fully peat-free grower, and is working towards becoming net zero, and committed to becoming fully peat-free grower by the end of 2023. With a loyal and growing client base, Greenwood prides itself on its fast and flexible national deliveries, its client-first approach, and its international supply chain.

Greenwood’s culture is based on its ‘Every Plant Matters’ philosophy, which encourages excellence, teamwork, and transparency. The Company recognises that its employees (the ‘G Team’) are its most valuable asset, and places great importance on employee safety, training, engagement, and wellbeing.

“We are delighted to have been shortlisted as a finalist for the International Grower of the Year awards 2024. To be nominated for such a prestigious award is truly a testament to the incredible dedication of our G team, and the remarkable accomplishments achieved this year.”

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DISCOVER NEW WORLDS W ELCO M E TO M E S S E E S S EN 28 . –31.01.2025

www.messe-essen.de

GUANGZHOU FLOWER RESEARCH CENTER, CHINA Guangzhou Flower Research Center, founded in 1985, is a scientific and technological innovation company. Engaged in variety of innovation and new young-plant production for 35 years, the company owns a 15-hectare standardized cultivation greenhouse with a demonstration capacity of 2.5 million pots of flower, and a biological tissue culture engineering center with the ability to produce 50 million high-quality young plants annually. Leading in the breeding of Anthurium, Spathiphyllum, Orchid domestically, it has become the largest independent young-plant supplier in China, promoting over 40 million Spathiphyllum young plants annually, constituting 30% of the domestic market. The company attaches great importance to environmental protection, it promotes energy-saving, emission reduction, and pollution control in the flower industry through standardized and intensive cultivation techniques, contributing to the harmonious development of the flower industry with environmental protection and low-carbon practices.

“With immense excitement, we express gratitude to AIPH for selecting the Guangzhou Flower Research Center as finalist for IGOTY 2024. This honour is the highest recognition of our team’s diligent efforts and a full affirmation of our commitment to young plant research and production over the years.”

HUVERBA BV, NETHERLANDS

Huverba has been committed to the green industry for almost 100 years.

It is a family business, spanning over five generations. Their forefathers started in the 1920s on a 1 hectare field. As of today, they have 100 hectares of field-grown trees and 12 hectares of container beds. They are a producer of trees, multistemmed trees and shrubs, both field and container grown and they export to all countries in Europe and the UK. Huverba sells over 7,000 varieties of plants and trees. Their quality and customer satisfaction are their main concerns, and some client relationships have lasted over 50 years.

Sustainability and becoming more future proof is Huverba’s daily mission.

Their other mission is greening the planet - they believe that planting trees and shrubs is the basis of a healthier world. Everyone deserves to live in a healthy environment. #greenislife, good for plants, good for people, good for the planet.

“We are very grateful and proud that we have been nominated; it proves to all of us that total dedication will be appreciated by fellow professionals.”

KWEKERIJ DIRK MERMANS, BELGIUM Dirk Mermans began with 250m2 of greenhouses during WWII. Now, five generations later, the company has expanded to 35,000m2 and is a leading name in houseplant production. They are dedicated to a wide range of highquality indoor plants, including the coveted Monstera Variegata and other hydrocultivated plants. They are also committed to sustainability and have implemented the use of sustainable pest management, rain water retention basins, low-emission machinery, and energy-saving screens. In 2024, they plan to install solar panels on the roof of their potting hall.

Innovation is also key at Dirk Mermans. Their breeding programme is at the heart of this. Within their greenhouse, they are dedicated to cultivating the extraordinary – rare philodendron varieties. Guided by passion and expertise, they are nurturing these unique plants, pushing the boundaries of botanical beauty.

“We are thrilled that Kwekerij Dirk Mermans has advanced to the final round of the AIPH International Grower of the Year Awards 2024! This prestigious recognition comes from a discerning professional jury, acknowledging our commitment to excellence in innovation, sustainability, marketing, social engagement, and employee dedication.”

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31st International Trade Fair for Plants, Horticultural Technology and Landscape Architecture

GREEN IS LIFE

Nurseries, the heart of the fair, has been connecting the whole green industry for over 30 years!

E E DAT 24 H T E SAV MBER 20 PTE 5-7 SE ARSAW W

This is where business, passion and art meet, which gives great results.

The fair is the forum for exchanging information, knowledge, experiences and establishing contacts.

Take advantage of the potential of trade fair meetings and book a stand at the promotional First Minute price – www.greenislife.pl, mail: info@greenislife.pl; phone no: +48 501 713 593.

recommendation

SJAAK VAN SCHIE / JACOBUS VAN SHIE, NETHERLANDS / PORTUGAL A Dutch company specialising in hydrangeas, Sjaak van Schie was established in 1980 in the Netherlands and expanded to Portugal in 1999 where cuttings can be produced all year round. They supply these flowering pot plants in various growth stages: from cutting to finished product. Naturally, every customer has his or her own wishes and so the team at Sjaak van Schie work hand-in-hand with their customers to tailor their products to their needs. They enjoy building a personal relationship with their customers and are eager to offer cultivation advice to ensure the best quality.

Sjaak van Schie is committed to sustainable production, which is why they grow their plants in a sustainable matter, use minimal crop protection agents, and recycle most of the water they use.

“This nomination is one more recognition of the great work made by the team and the strategy we have been following in recent years. Thank you for this recognition as one of the best growers in the world.”

YUNNAN SHINING FLORA CO. LTD, CHINA Yunnan Shinning Flora Co., Ltd. has founded in 2010, It is one of the enterprises with the highest production of annual cut flower young plants and market share of Tanacetum parthenium, Papaver, Trachymene coerule, Oxypetalum, Campanula, Scabiosa, Delphinium grandflorium, Delphinium elatum in China. Our company’s production bases are located in Kunming and Yuxi, Yunnan Province, with a total area of 7.9 hectares.

Shining Flora is producing young plants with more than 80 crops, including 150 series, and 850 varieties. The company integrates the concepts of “industrial intelligence”, “technological standardization”, “data-driven management throughout the entire chain”, and efficient energy conservation into the production process. Their vision is let Chinese growers to grow the best annual cut flower young plants.

“We’re very happy and honored to be a finalist of IGOTY 2024. It means we will get to be known by more people around the world’s horticulture market. It will motivate us to continue the innovation of young plants production and create value for our cut flower growers in China.”

YUNNAN YUNXIU FLOWER CO. LTD, CHINA Yunnan Yunxiu Flower Co., Ltd. is a national high-tech enterprise leading the way in agricultural industrialisation. Established in 2009, it is an important leader in the flower industry that integrates the research and development, industrial application, and sales of new varieties of low latitude plateau roses, seedling breeding, efficient cultivation of fresh cut flowers, post harvest sorting and packaging integration technology. The company currently has a germplasm resource garden of 50 acres, a seedling breeding base of 70 acres, and an industrial production base of 925 acres. It has 4 independent intellectual property variety rights, 24 authorised patent technologies, and has participated in the formulation of 4 local standards and 44 enterprise standards in Yunnan Province. It has the industrial capacity to breed 26 million high-quality flower seedlings annually, as well as produce, process, and sell billions of branches.

“We are very honoured to be nominated for the AIPH International Grower of the Year Award. Our company has been engaged in flower planting and seedling breeding for nearly 20 years, and this nomination is a great encouragement for our company and team.”

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Discover more at: www.globalgap.org

R THE FU

A global standard for responsible farming practices that is dedicated to the floriculture sector, IFA v6 is streamlined, impact-driven, and connected.

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IFA v6 for flowers and ornamentals

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IMPACT-DRIVEN APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY MODULE

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he Impact-Driven Approach to Sustainability (IDA) module facilitates the digital registration of input consumption data and sustainability metrics and the creation of anonymised comparison reports of peer producers with similar production conditions. Connected to an established farm management software, the IDA module enables producers to transform the information into records that can track progress, guide optimisation efforts, and demonstrate sustainability credentials.

The IDA add-on supports sustainable farming practices by facilitating continuous improvement. It integrates with farm management software (FMS), enabling producers to transform raw data into insightful reporting.

WHO CAN USE THE IDA MODULE? The IDA module is available for producers of all sizes, whether small-scale or large groups and producers can get audited in any country where

a GLOBALG.A.P.-approved certification body conducts audits.

FARM MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND THE IDA MODULE Farm management software is becoming increasingly prevalent as digitalisation spreads within the farming sector. It is used to manage farm operations and production processes and is now also used to send the relevant data to the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems.

Producers wishing to implement the IDA module must use a GLOBALG.A.P.-approved farm management software provider to ensure that it is compatible with the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems.

EXTENDING THE APPLICATION OF IDA TO NEW PRODUCT CATEGORIES Originally launched in 2020 for the floriculture sector, the add-on now offers new checklists for a broader range of products.Version 1.1, launched

on 13 November, includes the categories of fruits and vegetables, hops, tea, combinable crops, plant propagation material, and aquaculture.

LEARN MORE FROM OUR EXPERTS LIVE AT IPM ESSEN For those seeking firsthand information, we invite you to visit the GLOBALG.A.P. booth at the IPM Essen trade fair on 23–26 January 2024. The booth, located at the BGI Trade Center (Booth 1D12.A-16), is a hub for existing partners and potential collaborators to discover the new and improved possibilities that the IDA add-on brings to the table.

Join us as we usher in the new era of smart farm assurance solutions, such as the expanded IDA add-on, bringing positive change to the global farming landscape.

WWW.FLOR ACULTUREINTERNATIONAL.COM

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Green City Post

It’s that time of the year when we reflect on what we have achieved and look to the future with raised ambition and expectancy of what is to come. AIPH proudly presents an overview

AUTHOR: TIMOTHY B L ATCH

of our Green City activities throughout 2023.

W

e started the year with the continuation of the AIPH Green City Briefings 2022/23 webinar series, which proudly featured a range of renowned experts, researchers, and practitioners, as well as Finalists and winning cities from the 2022 edition of the AIPH World Green City Awards. With the support of Expo 2023 Doha, Qatar and The Worshipful Company of Gardeners, this series focussed more closely on greening principles that benefit the city, its residents, and nature and how practice creates transformational change. The recordings of the full series are now available for on-demand viewing. We invite you to be inspired via the playlist below.

In early 2023, the focus of the AIPH Green City team was on building strategic partnerships to support various activities of the AIPH Green City Initiative.

We are proud to have grown the network of partners for the AIPH World Green City Awards to include close to 30 leading organisations. Notable partnership announcements included CDP, IUCN, and IFLA, to name just a few. Our partnering work is ongoing, with impressive levels of support for AIPH’s Green City Initiative from key UN agencies and other global organisations and networks.

On 22nd March 2023, AIPH and the extensive network of partners announced the call for entries for the

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FLOR ACULTURE INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2023

2024 edition of the AIPH World Green City Awards.

Building on the legacy of the inaugural 2022 edition, we received keen interest from over 160 cities, resulting in an impressive number of entries by the deadline for submission of entries in September 2023.

On World Cities Day, AIPH announced the Technical Panel for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2024.

The prestigious Technical Panel comprises 28 multidisciplinary experts whose expertise spans across the seven award categories. Their role is to select the list of Finalists by assessing and scoring all eligible entries against the six judging criteria.

With scoring set to be completed by early 2024, the Technical Panel will present the list of 21 Finalists and recommendations for Certificate of Merit recipients to the Jury for the second stage of judging. AIPH will reveal the world-renowned jury shortly after the announcement of the finalists on 5 March 2024 at the AIPH Green City Conference in Doha, Qatar.

Showcasing innovative and successful cities, the AIPH Green City Case Study Collection profiles the case studies from the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022, which you can view here. To highlight the connection between the ornamental horticulture sector and successful urban greening, AIPH commissioned a new series of case studies in 2023. These provide examples from around the world that demonstrate the

PL ANT PROFILE

increasingly influential role that the ornamental horticulture industry is playing in creating and maintaining green cities.

AIPH further demonstrates how the ornamental horticulture industry makes a significant contribution to city greening initiatives throughout the year, with this being the theme of the AIPH Green City Conference, which took place on 20th September 2023 as part of the 75th AIPH Annual Congress in Suncheon, Republic of Korea.

The new Youth Award for the 2024 edition of the AIPH World Green City Awards was announced by AIPH and the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) in December 2022 at the Youth Summit in Montreal. In September 2023, working closely with our partner GYBN, we launched the call for applications for the Youth Jury. This Youth Jury will select from the 21 Finalists in the AIPH World Green City Awards 2024, a shortlist of three cities from which the winner of the AIPH Youth Award will be decided. This accolade will be awarded to the top entry, most likely to inspire the youth and fulfil their needs for a secure, healthy future. The 15 members of the Youth Jury will be announced in January 2024.

The AIPH Global Green City Forum continued to grow in 2023, boasting a strong start with 120 active members who are learning, sharing, and benefitting from being a part of this unique online community. Similarly, we have continued to share our work, the work of our partners, and the broader global green city community through our monthly AIPH Global Green City Updates and our Green City Post articles in FloraCulture International (FCI).

Looking ahead, we anticipate completing a second successful edition of the AIPH World Green City Awards, which will culminate in a dedicated gala dinner and Awards ceremony to be held in September 2024. It is on this momentous occasion that the category winners and Grand winners will be announced, and the 2026 edition of the AIPH World Green City will be launched.

AIPH is excited to host the ‘Living Green, Liveable Cities’ Research Symposium from 4-5th February 2024 in Doha, Qatar, alongside Expo 2023 Doha Qatar. The Research Symposium accompanies the special Cities & Health journal issue with the same name. The AIPH Spring Meeting will also take place in Doha from 3-7 March 2024, with an AIPH Green City Conference scheduled for the 5th of March.

Shortly, we plan to launch the next series of AIPH Green City Briefings.

We look forward to working with our partners and to mobilising a larger network of cities and urban practitioners in 2024 to continue inspiring a global movement aimed at shaping greener, healthier, and more resilient cities.

LIATRIS (BLAZING STAR) Martin Deasy is a UK-based horticulturist and landscape designer.

“A North American genus of ±35 herbaceous perennials, a handful of Liatris species are available to European designers, all from the Midwestern prairies. They are valued for their attractive foliage and emergent flower spikes, which offer rich late-season colour before the plants die back to overwintering corms. Liatris is fully hardy, generally disease-free, and appropriately sized corms flower reliably the year of planting—a significant benefit from the designer's viewpoint.

Each corm produces a neat cushion of grass-like basal foliage in spring, before one or more stiff flowering stems elongate through the summer, before flowering from the top downwards.

Despite belonging to the Asteraceae, Liatris lack ray florets and are not typically aster-like in appearance.

The plants’ distinctive appearance is actually due to the massed effect of the extremely long two-branched styles that emerge from the otherwise insignificant flowers—it is these that create the characteristic shaggy texture and striking colours (violet-mauve, magenta, pink, or white, according to the variety).

The varieties most commonly encountered are L. spicata and its two ‘Floristan’ cultivars (violet and white), which are originally from marshy habitats and thrive best in retentive soils. At 1m to 1.2m, they are generally self-supporting, though in fertile conditions, the stems can overextend and fall over. In such situations, the dwarf cultivar ‘Kobold’ (to 50cm) is a useful alternative. By contrast, the imposing L. pycnostachya (to 1.8m) always needs propping and is unsuited to most urban situations.

For urban specifications, the drier-growing species L. aspera and L. scariosa are worthy of consideration since they tolerate poor, stony soils and exhibit excellent drought tolerance.

In extensive plantings, establishment from seed is possible, though results have sometimes proved poor (L. aspera is a component of Jelitto’s ‘steppe prairie’ seed mix developed by James Hitchmough). Cultivars should be vegetatively propagated to ensure consistency, though ‘Kobold’ is also offered as a seed strain.”

For more information, visit www.aiph.org/green-city .”

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S AV E T H E D AT E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 24

OPEN UNTIL 28 MARCH 2024. QATAR AIPH-approved A Category World Horticultural Expo 2023 in Doha Qatar. www.dohaexpo2023.gov.qa

OPEN UNTIL 14 JANUARY 2024.TÜRKIYE AIPH-approved B Category International Horticultural Expo 2023 in Kahramanmaraş. www.expo2023.org

9-11. CANADA Landscape Ontario Congress at the Toronto Congress Center, Toronto, Ontario. www.landscapeontario.com

16-18. FRANCE 36th edition of SIVAL, an iconic agricultural trade show at the Parc des Expositions in Angers. www.sival-angers.com

17-19. USA TPIE, the Tropical Plant International Expo at the Broward County Convention Centre in Ft. Lauderdale. www.tpie.org

19-28. GERMANY Grüne Woche, international green week Berlin. Consumer and trade fair for food, agriculture and horticulture. www.gruenewoche.de

23-26. GERMANY The 40th edition of IPM Essen at Messe Essen. AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.ipm-essen.de

25-26. USA Gulf States Horticultural Expo, Mobile Convention Centre. www.gshe.org

26-30. USA ASTA Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference at the Monterey Conference Center, California. www.betterseed.org

26-30. GERMANY Christmas World at Messe Frankfurt.www.christmasworld. messefrankfurt.com

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 24

6-7. NETHERLANDS Plantarium Groen-Direkt Spring Edition at the International Trade Center, Hazerswoude/ Boskoop, Netherlands.

AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.plantariumgroendirekt.nl

7-9. GERMANY

8-10. USA

21-25. UK

Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, Earl Warren Showgrounds, California. www.sborchidshow.com

RHS Chelsea Flower Show. www.rhs.org.uk

23-25. CHINA HortiflorExpo IPM Beijing at the new China International Exhibition Centre. www.hortiflorexpo-ipm-china

12-14. MEXICO GreenTech Americas. Querétaro Centro de Congresos, México. www.greentech.nl/americas

J U N E 2 0 24

13-14. DENMARK

4-6. KENYA

Fruit Logistica Berlin. www.fruitlogistica.de

The Floradania Trade Fair aka Handelspladsen in Odense. www.floradania.dk

21-23. ITALY

13-15.NETHERLANDS

MyPlant&Garden at Fiera Milano Rho. AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.myplantgarden.com

4-7. NETHERLANDS

Tulip Trade Event. www.tuliptradeevent.nl

Dutch Lily Days. www.dutchlilydays.nl

13-15.VIETNAM

5-6. SPAIN

Hortex Vietnam at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City. www.hortex-vietnam.com

Biopesticides Europe 2024 in Barcelona. www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/ biopesticides-europe

19-21. ZIMBABWE

5-7. USA

HortiFlor Zimbabwe at Harare’s International Convention Centre. www.hppexhibitions.com

Floriexpo at the Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. www.floriexpo.com

24 FEBRUARY-10 MARCH. CHINESE TAIPEI 20th Taiwan International Orchid Show (TIOS) at the International Convention Centre in Tainan (ICC). www.woc23.com

25 FEBRUARY-5 MARCH. FRANCE The 60th Salon International d’Agriculture (SIA) at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. www.salon-agriculture.com

22-23. PORTUGAL Lusoflora at the CNEMA convention centre in Santarém. www.lusoflora.pt M A R C H 2 0 24

1-4. CHINESE TAIPEI World Orchid Conference at the Waipu Expo Site of Taichung World Flora Exposition, Taichung City. ww.woc23.com

3-7. QATAR AIPH Spring Meeting alongside the World Horticultural Expo 2023, Doha, Qatar. www.aiph.org/event/springmeeting-2024

5. BELGIUM Florall is Belgium’s leading horticultural trade show at Waregem Expo. www.florall.be

Iftex at Nairobi’s Oshwal Centre. www.hppexhibitions.com

20-23. ETHIOPIA

11-13. NETHERLANDS

HortiFlora Expo at the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa. www.hppexhibitions.com/hfe/

GreenTech Amsterdam, celebrating greenhouse horticulture’s thriving tech.

AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.greentech.nl

20-24. USA California Trials. www.growertalks.com/ CaliforniaTrials

21 MARCH- 12 MAY. NETHERLANDS

11-14. NETHERLANDS

Keukenhof, the world’s largest spring gardens in Lisse. www.keukenhof.nl

FlowerTrials Open House event for the pot and bedding plant industry. www.flowertrials.com

A P R I L 2 0 24

19-20. UK HTA National Plant Show at NAEC Stoneleigh. www.hta.org.uk/nationalplant-show

26 APRIL – 28 OCTOBER. CHINA AIPH-approved B Category 2024 Chengdu International Horticultural Exhibition. www.cdhortiexpo2024.com

J U LY 2 0 24

29 JULY-1 AUGUST. USA

M AY 2 0 24

17-26. FRANCE Floralies International Nantes at La Chabotterie en Vendée.

AIPH-approved C Category International Horticultural Show. www.comite-des-floralies.com

Perennial Plant Association National Symposium at the Embassy Suites Asheville Downtown, Asheville, North Carolina. www.perennialplant.org

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S AV E T H E D AT E

J A N U A R Y 2 0 24

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 24

OPEN UNTIL 28 MARCH 2024. QATAR

6-7. NETHERLANDS

AIPH-approved A Category World Horticultural Expo 2023 in Doha Qatar. www.dohaexpo2023.gov.qa

OPEN UNTIL 14 JANUARY 2024.TÜRKIYE AIPH-approved B Category International Horticultural Expo 2023 in Kahramanmaraş. www.expo2023.org

9-11. CANADA Landscape Ontario Congress at the Toronto Congress Center, Toronto, Ontario. www.landscapeontario.com

16-18. FRANCE

Plantarium Groen-Direkt Spring Edition at the International Trade Center, Hazerswoude/ Boskoop, Netherlands.

AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.plantariumgroendirekt.nl

7-9. GERMANY Fruit Logistica Berlin. www.fruitlogistica.de

21-23. ITALY MyPlant&Garden at Fiera Milano Rho. AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.myplantgarden.com

THE36thEVENT edition of SIVAL, an iconic 24 FEBRUARY-10 MARCH. agricultural trade show at the CHINESE TAIPEI FORParcTHE EUROPEAN des Expositions in Angers.

20th Taiwan International www.sival-angers.com Orchid Show (TIOS) at the GARDEN PLANT RETAIL International Convention 17-19. USA

TPIE, the Tropical Plant International Expo at the Broward County Convention Centre in Ft. Lauderdale. www.tpie.org

Centre in Tainan (ICC). www.woc23.com

SPRING EDITION 6&7 FEBRUARI 25 FEBRUARY-5 MARCH. 19-28. GERMANY Grüne Woche, international green week Berlin. Consumer and trade fair for food, agriculture and horticulture. www.gruenewoche.de

23-26. GERMANY The 40th edition of IPM Essen at Messe Essen. AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.ipm-essen.de

TENS OF THOUSANDS FLOOR M2 TRADE 25-26. USA

FRANCE

The 60th Salon International d’Agriculture (SIA) at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. www.salon-agriculture.com

22-23. PORTUGAL Lusoflora at the CNEMA convention centre in Santarém. www.lusoflora.pt M A R C H 2 0 24

8-10. USA

21-25. UK

Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, Earl Warren Showgrounds, California. www.sborchidshow.com

RHS Chelsea Flower Show. www.rhs.org.uk

23-25. CHINA

12-14. MEXICO GreenTech Americas. Querétaro Centro de Congresos, México. www.greentech.nl/americas

J U N E 2 0 24

13-14. DENMARK

N O I T I G ED N I R RY A SP U 13-15.NETHERLANDS R FEB4-7. NETHERLANDS 7 & 6 4-6. KENYA

The Floradania Trade Fair aka Handelspladsen in Odense. www.floradania.dk

Iftex at Nairobi’s Oshwal Centre. www.hppexhibitions.com

Tulip Trade Event. www.tuliptradeevent.nl

Dutch Lily Days. www.dutchlilydays.nl

13-15.VIETNAM

5-6. SPAIN

Hortex Vietnam at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City. www.hortex-vietnam.com

19-21. ZIMBABWE

Biopesticides Europe 2024 in

Barcelona.

NOORWEGENLAAN 37 www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/ biopesticides-europe HAZERSWOUDE-DORP 5-7. USA /BOSKOOP

HortiFlor Zimbabwe at Harare’s International Convention Centre. www.hppexhibitions.com

Floriexpo at the Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. www.floriexpo.com

PLANTARIUMGROENDIREKT.NL

20-23. ETHIOPIA

HortiFlora Expo at the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa. www.hppexhibitions.com/hfe/

20-24. USA California Trials. www.growertalks.com/ CaliforniaTrials

21 MARCH- 12 MAY. NETHERLANDS Keukenhof, the world’s largest spring gardens in Lisse. www.keukenhof.nl

11-13. NETHERLANDS GreenTech Amsterdam, celebrating greenhouse horticulture’s thriving tech.

AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.greentech.nl

11-14. NETHERLANDS FlowerTrials Open House event for the pot and bedding plant industry. www.flowertrials.com

1-4. CHINESE TAIPEI ONE THOUSANDS HUNDREDS ONE World Orchid Conference at the OF Expo Site of Taichung VISITOR’S OF COMPLETE Waipu 19-20. UK A P R I L 2 0 24 World Flora Exposition, VISITORS FAVOURITE EXHIBITORS OFFER HTA National Plant Show at Taichung City.

26 APRIL – 28 OCTOBER.

Gulf States Horticultural Expo, Mobile Convention Centre. www.gshe.org

ww.woc23.com

3-7. QATAR

CHINA

AIPH-approved B Category 2024 Chengdu International Horticultural Exhibition. www.cdhortiexpo2024.com

Spring Meeting alongside ScanAIPH QR code the the World Horticultural Expo ASTA Vegetable & Flower Seed 2023, Doha, Qatar.

Conference at the Monterey and www.aiph.org/event/springregister your visit.

Conference Center, California. meeting-2024 17-26. FRANCE Admission and parking free. www.betterseed.org Floralies International Nantes 5. BELGIUM Trade visitors only. at La Chabotterie en Vendée.

26-30. GERMANY Florall is Belgium’s leading

26-30. USA

M AY 2 0 24

Christmas World at Messe Frankfurt.www.christmasworld. messefrankfurt.com

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HortiflorExpo IPM Beijing at the new China International Exhibition Centre. www.hortiflorexpo-ipm-china

horticultural trade show at Waregem Expo. www.florall.be

FLOR ACULTURE INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2024

AIPH-approved C Category International Horticultural Show. www.comite-des-floralies.com

NAEC Stoneleigh. www.hta.org.uk/nationalplant-show J U LY 2 0 24

29 JULY-1 AUGUST. USA Perennial Plant Association National Symposium at the Embassy Suites Asheville Downtown, Asheville, North Carolina. www.perennialplant.org

S AV E T H E D AT E

A U G U S T 2 0 24

4-9. CHINA International Peat Congress in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. www.ipc2024.com

7-8. USA The Nursery Landscape Expo at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas. www.nurserylandscapeexpo.org

14-15. DENMARK The Floradania Trade Fair aka Handelspladsen in Odense. www.floradania.dk

21-22. NETHERLANDS Plantarium Groen-Direkt Autumn Edition at the International Trade Center, Hazerswoude/Boskoop, Netherlands. AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.plantariumgroendirekt.nl

21-23. USA Farwest Show at the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon. www.farwestshow.com

25-31. CANADA Farwest Show at the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon. www.igca24.ca/registration S E P T E M B E R 2 0 24

5-7. POLAND 31st Green Is Life, Expo XXI, Warsaw. AIPH-approved D Category International Horticultural Trade Show. www.zielentozycie.pl

NE THERL ANDS

Royal FloraHolland Aalsmeer to host Mid-Winter Fair The Royal FloraHolland Aalsmeer Mid-Winter Fair, from 10-11 January, can be considered Trade Fair Aalsmeer’s smaller sibling, and seeing the number of exhibitors and plants on display, it certainly is. While Trade Fair Aalsmeer attracts 500-600 exhibitors yearly in November, the auction’s Mid-Winter event has around 100 participants.

However, being smaller and quieter is sometimes better; on a less overcrowded show floor, there is more quality face-to-face time and genuine connection. The Mid-Winter Plant Fair is meant to forge long-term business relationships, but it’s also about on-the-day sales and actual order writing.

What’s more, the show’s timing is perfect.

January marks the end of the holidays, and traditionally, there is a strong demand for houseplants as people look for houseplants to substitute their Christmas trees. Plus, the new year fuels the entrepreneurial spirit, with a stronger-than-usual drive to restart business

with a sharper focus. Or, as country singer Brad Paisley famously coined it, ‘Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.’

Day one of the event coincides with Orchid Plaza, offering buyers from home and abroad the possibility to connect with the cream of the Dutch orchid growers.

Venue: Royal FloraHolland Aalsmeer. Opening dates and times: Wednesday 10th January: 8.30 am-4pm and Thursday 11th January: 8.30am2pm.

For more information, visit www.royalflora holland.com/campagne/winter-fair

18. POLAND

2-4. NETHERLANDS

Fresh Market at MCC Mazurkas Conference Centre, Warsaw. www.freshmarket.eu

GrootGroenPlus at Zundert’s at Treeport Rijsbergen/Zundert. www.grootgroenplus.nl

5-7.POLAND

25-27. ITALY

The 76th AIPH Annual Congress will take place between at the AIPH-approved International Horticultural Trade Show: Green is Life, Expo XXI, Warsaw. www.aiph.org/events

Flormart at Fiera di Padova in Padua. www.flormart.it

17-19. USA

10-12. UK

Expo Flor Ecuador in Quito. www.floreecuador.com

GLEE at the NEC in Birmingham. www.gleebirmingham.com

O C T O B E R 2 0 24

TBC. ECUADOR

1-3. SPAIN Iberflora at Feria Valencias. www.iberflora.feriavalencia. com

Global Produce & Floral Show, Atlanta. www.freshproduce.com

21-23. SWITZERLAND The 19th Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting. www.abim.ch

N O V E M B E R 2 0 24

5-7.NETHERLANDS Trade Fair Aalsmeer at the Royal FloraHolland flower auction in Aalsmeer. www.tradefairaalsmeer. royalfloraholland.com

6-8. NETHERLANDS IFTF at Expo Greater Amsterdam. www.hpp.nl D E C E M B E R 2 0 24

9-12. USA Great Lakes EXPO at the DeVos Place Convention Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.glexpo.com

WWW.FLOR ACULTUREINTERNATIONAL.COM

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Non-fertilised

WA S

HED

& BU

FFER

WAT C ANIM H OUR ATIO N!

ED C

O CO

S:

DIS C MO OVE RE R !

Washed & Buffered Cocos is a substrate composed of 100% washed and buffered coco fiber that contains no fertilizers.

This guarantees an incredibly low electrical conductivity (EC)

@atami.international

Rokzbastic is a high-quality cocktail of minerals and biostimulants which is the perfect partner for achieving rock-solid frosty results.

A D V ER TO R I A L

From base to bloom: Washed & Buffered Cocos and Rokzbastic are the secrets to a successful harvest

T

o get the best out of the crop, you need to start with a good base and finish on a high note by boosting flowering and fruiting. This cycle time is vital for a good yield, but it is often underestimated as many cultivators are content to use the same fertiliser throughout the cycle. The result? A harvest far from the plant's true potential.

What is the way to get the best results from start to finish? By choosing a suitable substrate as a base and a good bloom stimulator at the end, like Washed & Buffered Cocos and Rokzbastic.

As cultivators know, this will result in a healthier and more productive plant. In addition, the fact that it is not pre-fertilised gives the hobbyist more control over the nutrition of the crop from start to finish. This is where Rokzbastic comes in; it is suitable for coco growing and combines perfectly with Washed & Buffered Cocos.

Rokzbastic is a flowering and ripening stimulator composed of a cocktail of minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, and iron, among other essential trace elements, and plant extracts that act

as biostimulants. Thanks to its high concentration of phosphorus and potassium, it encourages exuberant crop flowering and promotes more swollen and heavier fruits with a higher concentration of sugars.

Cultivators will up their game and unleash the true potential of their crops with this winning combination.

Want to know more?

Visit atami.com, or check out our social media!

You may already know our new coco substrate from other editions, but if not, Washed & Buffered Cocos is a substrate composed of 100% premium quality washed and buffered coco fibre. It is not pre-fertilised and guarantees an extremely low electrical conductivity (EC), which is an advantage when customising nutrition. But the benefits don't stop there; coco fibre is becoming increasingly popular among cultivators as it has the ideal properties to be the basis of a successful crop. Its excellent water retention capacity, while maintaining aeration, is perfect for avoiding waterlogging and achieving good root development.

WWW.FLOR ACULTUREINTERNATIONAL.COM

47

NATURAL EVOLUTION Growing with the most innovative professional trade fair for horticulture, garden and landscape in Italy.

21 ‧ 22 ‧ 23 February 2024 FIERA MILANO-ITALY

MYPLANTGARDEN.COM