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3DECEMBER 2016 •

THE COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSE GROWER • DECEMBER 2016 www.hortnews.com

C O N T E N T S

News 4 – 6Robot picking closer 4Code adjudicator remit extended 4Cornerways tomato nursery change 5Caravan guidelines drafted 5New European plant health rules 6Lighting - benefits of LED’s 7–8GroSouth report from Roundstone 10–12Cut flower opportunities 13-15Trade fair reports 16-19Peppers offer a bright future 20-21Cucumber Growers day 22-24Research Diary 26

CommentBritish Sugar’s decision to phase out tomato productionat its Cornerways Nursery business and instead focuson growing cannabis crops for medicinal purposes,could be the sign of things to come in the sector.The decision will have raised more than a few eyebrows

and come as a surprise to many, as the business has ledthe way in the tomato industry for many years withCornerways being one of the largest and mostsuccessful glasshouse operations in the country. But it is a move that should be applauded. Not only will

their new crops provide the ingredient for a newprescription medicine being developed to treat a seriousform of epilepsy in children, but it is also a brave move tobreak away completely from what has been the norm fora very long time.It also highlights the fact that there is opportunity for

growers to consider more closely the alternativeopportunities that they might be presented with in thefuture.For many years growers and farmers have diversified -

that was how farm shops and other retail operationsbased on farms started. Those enterprises have beenand will continue to be prosperous and a goodalternative outlet for the crops grown on the farm. So maybe growing alternatives to food crops will

become the new diversification of choice? That is not tosay we want lots of glasshouse growers to give upgrowing food crops - far from it. But the on-going pricepressures of recent years will continue to test thepatience of growers as they strive to improve quality anddrive efficiencies. Numerous reports over the last fiveyears have told us that self sufficiency in the sector is, insome crop areas, at an all time low. The price for UKtomatoes has held up really well in the last few years butsome growers might find a combination of food cropsand non food crops could be the way to go in thefuture? While the Cornerways contract is a unique one of its

kind, UK glasshouses could be put to some verydifferent uses in years to come.

Front coverLED lifts rose crop yields 50% see page 4

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www.hortnews.com THE COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSE GROWER • DECEMBER 2016

4 • NEWS

Growers have until January10 to make their views knownon extending the remit of thegroceries code adjudicator,who monitors and enforcesthe supply code of practicethat covers the UK’s 10largest retailers.

Currently, it applies only tothe relationship between the‘big 10’ and their directsuppliers, including thosebased overseas, and not tobusinesses which supply theretailers through a third party.

Some indirect suppliers haveargued that they are at leastas vulnerable as directsuppliers to unfair practices, ifnot more so, but have noregulatory protection, says thegovernment.

The NFU has asked itsmembers to write to theirMPs to support its call for theadjudicator’s role to bewidened. It wants to see theornamentals sector comewithin the scope of the codeand for it to apply to moreretailers, by reducing the UKturnover threshold – currentlyit’s £1 billion – and to foodservice and foodmanufacturing businesses

too.It’s also calling for the

principles of the code to bemade compulsory – they arevoluntary at present – and forthe adjudicator to be able totake evidence of any breachfrom primary producers.

At the same time, thegovernment is reviewing theadjudicator’s performancesince it was established.

This year’s survey of directsuppliers found most retailershad improved their behavioursince 2015 but adjudicatorChristine Tacon said she wasdisappointed to find that thenumber of suppliers preparedto raise an issue with her wasstill less than 50% throughfear that their relations with aretailer would be damaged.

Philips Lighting have announced the expansion of the LEDlighting installations at two leading companies in cut rosecultivation, Porta Nova in the Netherlands and Scheers RoseNursery in Belgium. Shortly after piloting hybrid LED and highpressure sodium (HPS) grow light installations, both growersdecided to expand their LED investment following yields

increasing by upto 50 percent.Nurseyman,Wim Scheerssaid, “Our yieldshave increasedby 30%-50% inthe hybrid set-up. We can nowlight our plantsfor extendedperiods of timewithout raisingthe croptemperaturewhile retainingincreased

amounts of CO2. This helps boost the growth of our crops.Furthermore, we have seen a clear improvement in the qualityof our roses with longer stems, bigger flowers and higheryields. After just half a season, we saw that Philips LED lightingis the best option for growing roses, so we’re expanding ourLED lighting installation by 60% from 1.5 hectares to 2.5hectares.”

Emma James, co-owner of mail-order flower and plantsnursery Allwoods in Hassocks, West Sussex, completed theNew York marathon in November – but with her whole handand arm in a plaster cast.

Six days before the race she broke her finger while running ina smaller event, which resulted in her having surgery at a handclinic.

Mrs James said it was touch and go as to whether she wouldeven be able to fly let alone compete but managed to finish therace in just under five hours “with the help of lots of painkillers”.

The nursery is well known for its collection of garden pinksand pelargoniums and the carnations it grows as cut flowers.“We send over 1,500 boxes of cut carnations in Christmasweek alone,” she said, adding that this year she won’t belending much of a helping hand.

Code adjudicatorChristine Tacon

Code adjudicator’s remit set to beextended

Nursery owner runs NY marathonin plaster

A UK company has demonstrated a selective roboticstrawberry harvester that uses technology for identifying andpicking ripe fruit that could be applied to a range of delicatecrops including greenhouse fruits such as tomatoes.Dogtooth Technologies presented details of the harvester,

which it has developed with help from a SMART grant fromInnovate UK, at AgriTech East’s REAP conference inNovember. It uses computer vision and control systems tonavigate in the crop, identify and then pick ripe fruit, and qualitycheck it before placing it in a punnet.“Initial trials in a strawberry crop this season have been

encouraging and show the technology is viable but we’ll needa year or two more of commercial development,” companyjoint founder Mat Cook told Commercial Greenhouse Grower.Full cost-benefit analysis is a key element of development

work on the robot, he said. The company envisages crops being picked by small ‘fleets’ ofthe machines, each capable of picking at the same rate as ahuman labourer. “The difference is they are not restricted toeight-hour shifts, and are always working at maximum rate,”said Mr Cook.

Robot picking takes a stepcloser

LED lifts rose crop yields 50%


5NEWS •


Following the announcement in September that Four OaksHorticulture Ltd, owner of the Four Oaks Trade Show and FourOaks Nurseries Ltd were to be sold, Richard Harding hasinstructed the selling agents Timothy Lea & Griffiths to take thebusiness off the market although there have been severaloffers. The management of the nursery will be restructured, givingopportunities for advancement within the company allowing MrHarding to take semi-retirement which was the aim. Pat Couttswill continue in the role of Trade Show Director.

The tomato sector has lostone of its best-knownproduction facilities with thedecision by British Sugar topull out of the crop atCornerways Nursery. As fromnext year, it will be growingcannabis for thepharmaceutical industry.

Its new contract, with GWPharmaceuticals, is for a‘non-psychoactive’ variety ofcannabis specifically bred formedical purposes. This isused as a source ofcannabidiol, or CBD, theactive ingredient of a newprescription medicine beingdeveloped to treat rare butserious forms of epilepsy inchildren.

British Sugar managingdirector Paul Kenward saidthat during the 16 years ithas grown tomatoes in theglasshouse next to theWissington sugar factory, ithad invested in world-classfacilities and developed itsexpertise to deliverconsistent high quality crops.

“This new era for ourhorticultural business uses allwe have learned to date,” hesaid.

“Annually we will produceenough of this ingredient totreat the equivalent of up to40,000 children globally.”

GW Pharmaceuticals wasestablished by two Britishdoctors in 1998 when theywere licensed by the HomeOffice to conduct researchand development into themedicinal uses of cannabis,starting with an initial crop of5,000 plants in a climate-

Tomatoes’ loss is pharmaceuticals’gain at Cornerways

New guidelines are beingproposed for growers whoprovide caravanaccommodation for seasonalworkers. The initiative, led bythe Fresh ProduceConsortium (FPC), is inresponse to a TVdocumentary last year aboutaccommodation conditionsfor workers on a Kent fruitfarm.

“We have developed draftguidance with support fromour members and now we’reseeking feedback from othersinvolved in the provision ofcaravan accommodation,”said FPC chief executive NigelJenney. “We’re encouragingall sectors of the industry towork together to improveconditions where necessaryand to share good practice.”

The NFU said that acommon guidance documentwould be more useful to theindustry than having eachretailer set its ownexpectations. “But manygrowers already go beyondthe fundamental legalrequirements because thequality of accommodation onoffer is a key part of the waythey attract and retain goodquality workers,” added itschief horticulture andpotatoes adviser Chris

Hartfield. He said growersneeded to make clear whatthey are already providing,and how easy it would be tomeet any additionalrequirements in the FPC’sproposals – and at what cost.

The FPC says that whilesome aspects of workeraccommodation may becovered adequately bylegislation, ‘there aresignificant elements which arenot’. It was an area, it said,where the industry couldbenefit from sharing goodpractice ‘to ensure thatworkers employed in ourindustry live not only in a safeenvironment, but in one whichis acceptable in terms ofcomfort and security.’

The guide will set out what islegally required and whatconstitutes ‘good practice’and identifies areas whereconditions could be improved.It will also include a checklistfor growers to use to assessthe standard of theiraccommodation againstbenchmark indicators.

Copies of the draftguidelines and a link to wheregrowers can respond to theconsultation can be found onthe FPC websitewww.freshproduce.org.uk.

Guidelines drafted for caravanaccommodation

Four Oaks to remain under currentownership

‘This new era for ourhorticultural business

uses all we havelearned to date’.

controlled greenhouse at asecure research facility in thesouth of England. Vice-president Stephen Schultzsaid the company uses“multiple long-term growersto ensure it has an ample,secure supply of itsproprietary CBD plantmaterial” but was unable tocomment further on whetherit was actively looking formore glasshouse productionsites in the UK.

Cornerways wasresponsible for around 8% ofthe national tomato acreage.The decision comes a yearinto a five-year agreementwith Thanet Earth to marketCornerways’ crop in a dealthat took the total volumesmarketed by Thanet Earth toabout a quarter of all UK-grown tomatoes.

A statement from ThanetEarth said that should BritishSugar revert to tomatoproduction in the future, itremains the marketingpartner and would resumethe responsibility for cropplanning and marketing. Inthe meantime, though, it hasdecided to make tomatoesthe first crop in its recentlycompleted new glasshouseinstead of cucumbers asoriginally planned. Thatbrings the total area oftomatoes at the Kent site tojust over 24ha. It also added:“The momentum continuesfor us to add the final glassto the site as quickly as isfeasible.”

Cornerways generalmanager Patrick Harte leftBritish Sugar in Septemberto manage food testingcompany Eurofins’ laboratoryin Wolverhampton. Hecontinues as chairman of theTomato Growers Associationuntil January.



6 • NEWS

Europe passes new plant health rulesNew EU plant health legislation that will include mandatorysurveillance of trading in ‘high risk’ plants has been approvedby the European Parliament. It updates rules that date back to2000.Anthea McIntyre, the UK MEP who sits on the parliament’s

agriculture committee and led on the new legislation, and whois herself a small-scale grower, said the new rules would offerbetter protection at points of import, increased surveillance,better funding for plant health measures and betterprioritisation of the most harmful organisms. Strictereradication measures will be introduced, plant passportarrangements harmonised and rules for protected zonesclarified.“As far as the UK is concerned, the measures aim to tackle

plant pests by stopping them entering the country,” she said.“But it’s in the UK’s interest that the EU has effective systems inplace. [This legislation] offers robust and rigorous checksagainst the spread of pests and diseases withoutoverburdening commercial growers or traders with needlessobstacles.”Conservation charity Buglife is blaming the ‘uncontrolled’

import trade in pot plants for spreading invasive flatwormswhich are a threat to native earthworms. It issued its warningafter an Obama flatworm was found emerging from a heucheraplant bought from an Oxfordshire garden centre.

A change in the way rules on agricultural exemptions frombusiness rates are being interpreted by the Valuations OfficeAgency (VOA) could see many protected crops nurserieshaving to pay the tax from next April.The change is believed to apply to the approach taken to‘horticultural businesses which grow their crops mainly inbuildings or glasshouses, but do not bring these crops on totheir final maturity’. The VOA says it now classes thesebusinesses as ‘nursery ground’, rather than market gardens,and as such requires land to be used in conjunction with thegrowing buildings in order to satisfy the agricultural businessrates exemption.

Businesses which have been contacted by the VOA alreadysay there is a lack of clarity on which crops could be affected.Depending on how the rules are interpreted, vegetabletransplants and young plant plugs could, for example, beclassed as ‘not grown to final maturity’ but so too couldfinished bedding and pot plants as they could be interpreted asbeing ‘grown on’ by the consumer.

“It’s not clear what kinds of production and crops the VOA istalking about,” said NFU chief horticulture adviser ChrisHartfield.

“We have successfully lobbied Defra and other departmentsfor some time on getting a joined-up approach acrossgovernment to support a thriving agriculture and horticulturesector. But here we have a classic case of a different arm ofgovernment acting in isolation.

“For growers suddenly to be faced with these rates that theyhave previously been exempt from could well mean somegoing out of business.”

While the level of rates will be proportional to business size,the amounts could run into tens or even hundreds ofthousands of pounds in some cases.

Dr Hartfield said the legislation had not been updated in linewith current patterns of production where different businessesspecialise in different parts of the crop cycle. “It’s not possibleto make interpretations about what constitutes a finishedcrop,” he said.The VOA’s change in approach is part of its business ratesrevaluation which sets the property values on which localauthorities will base their business rate charges from April2017. It’s believed to follow a court ruling in 2015 relating to abusiness producing mushroom compost.

Glasshouse nurseries facedwith business rates hit

Fertiliser manual reviewedAHDB has published findings of an extensive review of theFertiliser Manual RB209, which will form the basis of a newedition of the guide to be released next year.

The project was overseen by the AHDB-led UK Partnershipfor Crop Nutrient Management and delivered by an ADAS-ledconsortium of experts from across the UK research community.It was supported by £200,000-worth of in-kind funding byindustry.

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7LIGHTING •


Light-emitting diode (LED)lighting is becoming more andmore common, particularly fora number of edible crops. Asgrowers become morefamiliar with the technologyand more research is done,the additional benefits interms of agronomy and plantcontrol are becoming morerecognised alongside theenergy savings providedwhen compared to traditionallight sources.“In a greenhouse

environment LED lights areused primarily forsupplemental lighting andinter-lighting,” agreesChristopher Steele, ChiefOperations Officer forHeliospectra. “But there isalso the ability to use variouslighting strategies throughoutproduction, for example usingspecific colours, intensities,and durations of light tomanipulate the plants duringtheir different growth stages.By changing these lightingvariables that the plants aresubjected to, different growthresponses can be triggered toaffect different cropcharacteristics like taste,aroma and size, or even altercultivation times. This is by farone of the more exciting useswe’re seeing from growersworking with LEDs.”LED lighting allows growers

to provide plants with veryspecific wavelengths.“Different crops are now beinggrown with differentwavelengths of light,” saysPien Stams, MarketingManager for Lemnis Oreon.“However, in 90 per cent ofsituations a certaincombination of red and bluelight, together with daylight,gives the best overall results.In crops where compact

growth is desired then moreblue light is given, and there isalso some interestingresearch being done into theeffects of far red lighting.”The effect of specificwavelengths of light on plantshas been the focus ofscientific research for manyyears, and the benefits ofusing different spectra arenow starting to become clear.“Blue and red lights are usedmore efficiently by the plant,so make up the bulk of thespectra for any plantspecies,” explains MaartenKlein, Head Agronomist withPlessey. “However, it must benoted that the green part ofthe spectrum is also vitallyimportant for balanced growthand signalling, as well as lightrendering, and so needs to beincluded. As a general rule, aspectrum with higher bluelight levels is used for leafyand salad crops, while aspectrum with a higher redlight level and a small amountof far red is used for cropswhich generate flowers andfruit.”An American study publishedin May looked at the effect ofsole-source (SS) LEDs ofdifferent light qualities andintensities on the growth andquality of microgreens, suchas purple kohlrabi, mizunaand mustard grown underhydroponic conditions andshowed just how big an effectlight wavelength has on cropdevelopment, particularly inthe early stages. Anotherstudy, this time conducted byMichigan State University,looked at the effect of LEDlighting on the regulation offlowering in both short-dayand long-day plants. Thisshowed that, ‘The lightspectrum is key to regulating

flowering. A spectrum rich inred light (600 to 700 nm) iscapable of inhibiting floweringof short-day plants. Theinclusion of far red (700 to800 nm) with red light cansometimes accelerateflowering of long-day plants.At the low light intensitytypically delivered (≈2 µmol·m−2·s−1), blue andgreen lights are less or noneffective at regulatingflowering.’However, Maarten warns thatgrowers need to be carefulnot to get too carried awaywith manipulating thewavelength of light and forgetthe basics of plant growth.“While the horticultural and

scientific community isfascinated by the use ofspecific wavelengths toaccomplish specificresponses, it is important wedo not get weighed down bythis when considering thecommercial factors,” hestresses. “Sodium lightingwas not designed for plantgrowth and provides aspectrum of light which hasnot been tailored to plants,yet it has been used tosuccessfully grow plantscommercially for decades. Wemust remember that whenusing LED lighting in thecommercial sector, the mostimportant thing is to get agood, healthy plant response

Benefits of LED’s not just limited toenergy saving

Monitoring light output and wavelength is a key part of

designing the right system - Senmatic A/S.



8 • LIGHTING

with a 50-60 percent saving inenergy. That is where themajority of the benefits willcome from, rather thantweaking plant responses tolight.”In practice, it is experience

that determines just howgrowers will use LED lighting.“The main goal for manygrowers is to use LEDs astheir main lighting source,”says Johnny Rasmussen, KeyAccount Manager forSenmatic A/S. “All crops aredifferent and one of the teststhat a grower has to do in thefirst year is to see whichwavelengths are suitable for

their crop. At Senmatic wecan help growers with manyproduction parameters, but itis important to use lighting asa tool, just like a goodfertilizer, not as a ‘silver bullet’.This philosophy ties in neatly

with that Next GenerationGrowing (NGG), the Dutchtechnique to reassessconventional environmentalcontrol in order to reduceenergy use and improvecropping and LED lighting fitseasily into such systems, andhas attracted a lot of interestover the last couple of years.There has also been a largeamount of attention on indoor

growing, something whicharguably has only been madepossible by the use of LEDlighting which can be usedpermanently with low costsand without heating up thesurrounding environment.Maarten Klein feels that,

“Traditional lighting will retainits place for the time being inexisting and Next GenerationGrowing because of its lowcapital cost, low risk andknown performancecharacteristics.“However, the challenge of

managing energy usage, inrespect of both heat and light,will naturally steer the markettowards low energy solutionssuch as LEDs. The migrationto LED will accelerate asconfidence continues to growin this new technology andnaturally, LED capital costswill reduce over time. We arealready seeing commerciallyviable installation projectswhereby additional crop yieldproduced by using LEDcovers the cost of the lights.The speed of this migrationwill continue to accelerateyear on year with firstadopters gaining immediateadvantage.”“The new generation of

growing often entails gettingthe most out of a smallgrowing area,” explainsChristopher Steele. “As thearea of available arable land isdecreasing and thepopulation is growing, there isa need to find innovative waysof producing food. LEDlighting allows growers tocreate ideal growingconditions wherever they are.The latest trend in cultivationmethods that has exploded inthe last few years is verticalfarming. This is based onmaximising the availablegrowing area by building avertical cultivation system ofracks and shelves. Thesefarms are often indoorswithout ambient light; the lightthat is provided must bemounted on each shelf

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otherwise there would be agreat deal of shading thatwould create uneven growthcycles. Thin LED light bars areideal for this application.”The ability to control the heatproduced is a key benefit ofLED-based lighting systemsstresses Pien Stams. “Water-cooled lights, such as ourOreon Grow Lights 2.1 don’theat up the greenhousewhich can be unwanted as itwould affect other areas ofenvironmental control. Watercooling provides growers withfull control over the lightintensity without anyautomatic heat influence. Inmany cases the fixtures canbe integrated with existingheat exchangers to utilise allthe energy produced by theLED, both heat and light, in acontrolled way. This also haspositive effects on the controlof humidity and CO2 as well.”There is no doubt that thereare benefits associated withLEDs, and a number of newcommercial ventures areworking closely with lightingmanufacturers. One exampleis the partnership betweenPhilips Horticulture LEDSolutions and Light4Food,which designs and producesclosed cultivation systems forvertical farming. “Werecognize the value ofpartnering with well-established horticulturemanufacturers and suppliersto generate growth like neverbefore for our customers,”said Udo van Slooten,manager of PhilipsHorticulture LED Solutions.“We do this by building thecustomer business casebased on a deepunderstanding of thecustomer’s drivers, as well asour expertise in lighting, plantphysiology and systemintegration. We are happy towelcome Light4Food to ourextensive Horti PartnerNetwork to add even morevalue to the business of ourcustomers.” u

Attis-7 plant growth light from Plessey.




10 • GROSOUTH

Roundstone Nurseriesnear Chichester onceagain hosted the

GroSouth show onNovember 9. With 110exhibitors and more than 700visitors the show fulfilled somany needs with technicalexhibits, nursery tours andwell attended seminars. CliveMarlow reports.

Blue Ribbon Plants won theaward for the “Best Stand”with a colourful display ofautumn bedding plantsincluding pansy, viola andprimula’s.

The prize for the “Best NewProduct” went to USPCreations for theirWonderwall interlockingplanters creating a living wallof trailing evergreens andflowers. This show was thefirst occasion the producthad been exhibited in the UK.

The award for innovationwent to Macpac for theirLetterbox plant packagingproduct that provides

maximum protection andventilation of plants duringtransit and display.

This year there were manynew companies who had notpreviously exhibited atGroSouth.It was the first time Green

Products from TheNetherlands had been to theshow. Represented in the UKby PG Horticulture thecompany supplies highquality paper pots for thepropagation of ornamentals,vegetables and trees.

Another new exhibitor,Petersfield Growing Mediafrom Leicestershire exhibiteda range of peat based, soilbased and peat freecomposts that are availableas standard or custom mixes.

Fordingbridge Polyhouses,a local company exhibiting forthe first time featured theirnew hybrid polytunnel thatoffers the professional growera maximum growingenvironment with standard

3m straight sides withaluminium gutters and steelskirts. The structure can alsobe used as a plant salescanopy for retail nurseriesand farm shops.

In December 2015 LCPackaging bought outGeerings HorticulturalProducts. This was the firsttime the company exhibitedunder the new banner. L CPackaging is well establishedas one of the largestsuppliers of packaging with acomprehensive range of plantand flower sleeves pluscustom packaging for thehorticultural trade.

Another company new toGroSouth was JFHHorticultural Supplies. Basedin Cheshire the company has

been supplying a range ofhorticultural sundries for morethan 40 years. The standdisplayed trays and plantersincluding the new “RootPouch”, a fabric plantingcontainer that allows excesswater to drain keeping rootsbreathing and healthy.

Beautiful clay pots from theheart of the Basque countrycould be seen and touchedon the stand of PoterieGoicoechea exhibiting at theshow for the first time. All thepots are handmade and eachsigned by a master potter.They have found a nichemarket with interiordesigners, landscapers andretail nurseries.

Having a successful trackrecord of providing

A round-up from Roundstone

The Best stand award – Blue Ribbon Plants.

The award for innovation went to Macpac for their Letterboxplant packaging, and was accepted by Simon Frith and NeilGreenhalgh.


11GROSOUTH •


sustainable energy solutionsto horticulture and gardencentres in other parts of thecountry VG Energy came tothe show this year toestablish a presence withgrowers in the South andSouth East counties. VGEnergy specialises in allforms of sustainable energywith the potential to lowerheating costs and carbonoutput.

Of the regular exhibitorsThompson & Morgan have

exhibited for many years.They launched their new2017 catalogue containingmany new introductions suchas the Viola “Bunny Ears”,the Nasturtium “ OrchardCream” that changes colourduring the flowering periodand the Cosmos“Lemonade”.

Probably best known forhorticultural film andpolytunnel covers, Les Laneof XL Horticulture said thatduring the show they had

received a lot of interest intheir range of pro-biotics andparticularly the new “BioLift”that is derived from aselection of Vermi compostsand totally organic. BioLiftnaturally releases plantnutrients and isrecommended for use whereplants have suffered fromhigh levels of chemicals ortoxicity.

Each year one of the mostcolourful and eye catchingdisplays is that of KernockPark Plants. This year it didnot disappoint. The 2017catalogue contains 59 newintroductions including theBudlleia “Buzz” assortmentwith 2 new colours,Begonias, Salvia and a newhardy geranium “Foundling’sFriend”.

Another regular exhibitor –Agralan well known asdistributors of the Biobestrange of biological controlagents and hives includingthe native British bumble-bee. This year to assist thepollination of outdoorplantings of soft and top-fruits they have introducedwild flora mixtures to theproduct range. Wild flowersincrease the bio-diversity andencourage natural pollinatorsthroughout the floweringperiod.

In addition to theircomprehensive range ofproducts and services the

glasshouse division ofAgrovista promoted “see itgro” the small compressedcoir grow-bags fromBotanicoir which aredesigned for the domesticgrower of salads, herbs andfruits and are suitable forsmall greenhouses, shelvesand windowsills.

One of the main horticulturalsuppliers to the professionalgrower in the region is BHGSof Chichester. Their largecentral stand reflected thewide range of products fromfertilisers to Christmas items.According to Paul Taylor oneitem on display the Cometwheelbarrow sprayer createdmuch interest. With a 125vlitre tank and Honda petrolengine this is the idealmachine for spraying weedsas well as greenhouse andoutdoor plants.

This year the 3 seminarswere all well attendedprobably because they werelocated in the main body ofthe show instead of syndicaterooms in the office suite.These included “What theCustomer Wants” presentedby Tim Clapp the horticulturalretail specialist. For all usersof knapsack sprayers therewas a workshop foroperatives to brush up orrefresh their knowledge. Thiswas carried out by VickiHughes of Pitch Care. Anoverview of the AMBER

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12 • GROSOUTH

This was the message fromTim Clapp at “What theCustomer Wants” seminar atGroSouth at RoundstoneNurseries, Chichester onNovember 9.Tim Clapp is Head of range,

horticulture and garden carefor Kingfisher Plc.Who is our customer?Tim opened the seminar witha strong message to gardencentres and nurseries that weare in danger of confusing thenovice gardener by offeringtoo much choice described ina language they do notunderstand.The overall market is not

getting bigger, it is changingbut the demographics arepositive. The older gardenersare becoming moreadventurous whilst the newgeneration have limited timebut want a nice garden, theywant success but it must beeasy – small effort with bigrewards.The profile of the new

gardeners tends to be young(under 35), female and withlimited knowledge ofhorticulture. Nurseries andgarden centres must attractthis type of buyer who is oftendaunted by plant descriptionsand cultural instructions usingterms that mean nothing tothem. Tim gave someexamples of words that weuse everyday but do not helpthe novice such as;

deciduous, herbaceous,evergreen, and half-hardy. What is the solution?The trade must learn that

customers have a different setof needs to those that arecurrently offered.The new gardener wants:Innovation – simple jargonfree descriptions.Bomb proof plants – will notdie of neglect.Simple solutions – when doesit flower and for how long.Plant and forget – lowmaintenance.No complicated lengthyinstructions – this is the iPodgeneration.We offer too much choice, of

the many thousands of novelintroductions each year onlyabout 5 successfully make itto market. Tim was of theopinion that often there wasnot enough garden testing ofnew varieties and too muchfocus on novelties withoutconsidering if there was anybenefit to the customer. He concluded, we as an

industry must recognise thenew breed of gardener andadapt to those changingneeds. He gave the analogyof those of us who are notwine buffs buying a bottle ofwine. The label on the bottleassumes a level of knowledgethat is frequently lacking andgives too much unnecessarydetail. u

Emma Jones of VG Energy, who specialise in all forms ofsustainable energy.

Don’t confuse the customer

biopesticide project wasgiven by Dr Dave Chandler ofWarwick University. Thisseminar explained how a newAHDB research programmewill improve ourunderstanding of how to usebiopesticides to greatesteffect.

The nursery tour proved aspopular as ever with growers.This gave visitors theopportunity to see around the

Newlands site including thenew biomass boiler plus thepropagation and productionfacilities.

In conclusion this was awell-run event. Sarah JaneMilbourn the event organiserand her management teamshould feel very pleased thatexhibitors and visitors all hadsuch a good experience.They are already starting toplan Grosouth 2017. u

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13CUT FLOWERS •


We are starting tocompete positivelywith the Dutch in a

market which is growingevery year,” says LyndonMason, the Project Managerof the AHDB Horticulturefunded Cut Flower Centre(CFC), a role which he hasnow held for the last nineyears. Since 1997 the CFC has

been based at the 200 acreRookery Farm, Holbeach StJohns, Lincolnshire which isowned and managed by Mrand Mrs David Robinson whowork with and through theCFC Management Group.“Growers are now

approaching us on broaderindustry problems where theyneed our help,” he says. Anexample is the herbicideRonstar which was

withdrawn in 2014 becauseits approval was notrenewed. CFC has workedwith AHDB Horticulture, intandem with ADAS, to findalternative herbicides for useon Sweet William and Asters.“We are now very close toidentifying a suitableprogramme for use on Astersbut Sweet Williams areproving more troublesome,”he says.

National Cut FlowerCentre Open DayThe National Cut FlowerCentre Open Day was heldthis year on August 10th.Visitors were able to seemany of the trials currentlybeing undertaken on the 600sq metres of outdoor plotsand also within the 7.9 metrex 38.1 metre single span

Haygrove Spanish tunnel anda 22.7 x 38.1 triple span ProTech Spanish tunnel, alllocated at Rookery Farm.During the Open Day, whichattracted almost 70 visitors,visits were also made to J ACollison and Sons, PerchHolme Nursery at Walpole StAndrew, Wisbech and to TheNational Centre for FoodManufacturing, University ofLincoln, Holbeach.

CFC trialsIn many cases the CFC areapproached by propagatorswith new products that theythink will be of interest to theindustry. In addition to this, atthe suggestion of Waitrose, amember of the Centre’smanagement committee,trials have been undertakenon seed raised fillers with afocus in 2016 on OrnamentalGrasses, outside and underprotection, to investigate thepotential for using them as

bouquet fillers. “There wasconsiderable interest in thesetrials during the August 10th

Open Day,” said LyndonMason. Results to date show very

varied head form, with someshowing great promise. Theornamental grasses undertrial appear quite easy togrow and there has alsobeen much positive interestfrom supermarkets as well aspackers. Another CFC trial has been

looking at a new range ofcutting-raised Scabious.Planting dates were week 17under protection and week18 outside. Planting densityhas been 8 plants per m2 intwo rows per bed. Firstflowers were ready in week26 with heavy flushingexperienced from week 29onwards. “These areexpensive plants which areproduced by cuttings” heexplained. “The yields have

British growers are successfully challenging Dutch competition to obtain a greatershare of the burgeoning UK cut flower market, writes Bill Sherer.

Growers successfully challenge Dutchcut flower growers

Scoop, a cuttings-raised series of scabious.

Alstroemeria varieties have cropped well in the polytunnel .



14 • CUT FLOWERS

been really quitephenomenal” explainedLyndon Mason. Scabious has a good vase

life and has generated agreat deal of interest; theycome in a wide range ofattractive and very vibrantcolours. Pumpkin on a stick

(Solanium Aethiopicum) is avery unusual and interestingproduct and this CFC trial isbeing undertaken to assessits potential. It is an extremelyvigorous plant with viciousthorns on both the leaf andstem. The intention is forthese to be removed atharvest time for what is aspeciality rather thanmainstream product. Flowersstarted to develop in July thatset to make the pumpkins.“This is one of my favouritesbut it is a bit of a wild card,”explains Lyndon Mason.The very wide cross section

of trials undertaken by CFCin 2015/16 has includedAlstroemeria. The objectivewas to demonstrate anddetermine the viability of aseasonal crop of alstroemeriaoutside and under protection.CFC made the decision to

use only older varieties whichdo not have expensiveroyalties attached to them. Varieties planted included:

Apollo; Avanti; Bonanza;Candy; Dana; Flaming Star;Friendship; Golden Delight;Nina; Orange Supreme; PinkSensation and Tanya.Planting dates were week 22under protection and week23 for those outside during2015. Plant density was 5per m2. In 2016 the mainflower flush occurredbetween weeks 23 to 28. Anew flush was growingvigorously and was in flowerby late August. Results todate have produced strong,long quality stems. Unlike theprevious two years, the crophas flushed this year whichhas resulted in a three or fourweek production gap. Tests for Vase LifeChrysal, who supplytreatment for flowers andplants, have established avase life assessment centrewithin a dedicatedenvironment room at TheUniversity of Lincoln’sHolbeach centre. This workwas previously undertakenfor CFC trials in facilities at

the various local packers.Most of the company’stesting is undertaken in theNetherlands. It was felt thetime was right to establishUK based test facilities, notleast to evaluate new typesof flowers. Tests areundertaken and monitored byThe University of Lincolntechnicians following Chrysalprotocols. New Technology

The UK Cut Flower industryis at the forefront of newtechnology. For example,some growers areundertaking advanced trialswith the supermarkets whosell their flowers. It is nowpossible to trace individualbouquets back to the farmwhere they were grown. Cutflowers will have their own

QR code which enablescustomers to scan them withtheir smart phones. Thisallows them to see wheretheir flowers were grown andalso to see images of thededicated people whoharvest them including thefarmer him/her self. “These major advances are

becoming increasinglyimportant for the successfulmarketing of cut flowers tosupermarket consumers andgo some way to positivelyenhancing the industry’simage,” said Lyndon Mason.Information sharing,accountability and growersconnecting to theircustomers in ever moresophisticated ways will beintegral to future cut flowerprofitability and success.

Lyndon Mason, the Project Manager of the AHDBHorticulture funded Cut Flower Centre (CFC).

Trials this year have looked at gomphrena (centre) and attrachelium (left).


15CUT FLOWERS •


Alternative herbicides forAsters and SweetWilliamsAs previously mentioned, thewithdrawal of herbicideRonstar, which was used onChina Asters and SweetWilliams, has seen the CFC atthe forefront of work toidentify effective alternatives.In 2016 trials undertaken onAsters at the CFC, StompAqua and Gamit CStreatments, have proved thesafest and most effective withButisan S being the safestfollow-up treatment. “It has been a real challenge

to date but there is now somelight at the end of the tunnel. Iam hopeful that we shouldhave an alternative herbicideprogramme for Asters by theend of this year,” heexplained. However, theSweet Williams may requireanother year of trials. Whilstrecommendations have beenmade for both these cutflowers, neither to date, hasreached the ideal required,high weed control levels thatgrowers must have in runningsuccessful and profitablebusinesses. A vibrant industry

In the UK, supermarkets sell56% of all cut flowers withflorists contributing about25% plus. This differs radicallyfrom Western Europe whereflorists market the bulk ofsales and supermarkets onlysupply about a fifth of thetotal. In 2011 the whole UKcut flower retail market wasvalued at £874 million, agrowth of 2.4% on theprevious year. Tesco had thelargest share of this market at29%, followed by Morrisonswith 16%. The number and size of UKcut flower growers variesconsiderably. There arearound 12 large businessesand a further 100 mediumsized growers. Thesecategories are supplementedby Flowers from the Farm

which is a membershiporganisation with over 300members. Formed in 2011, itvigorously promotes Britishcut flowers and activelyencourages more producersto start growing them formarket. Statistics show dramatic salesincreases of cut flowers at keytimes annually (Valentine’sDay; Mother’s Day andChristmas) suggesting furtherdemand could be stimulatedat other key times such asEaster and Halloween.

UK Florists have a key roleto play in supporting Britishcut flower growers. Employingmore than 25,000 people inover 8,400 independentbusinesses nationwide, it isboth a growing andcompetitive industry where42% within it are self-employed. The sector sellscut flowers valued at around£390 million annually. It is thesecond largest outlet for cutflowers in the UK with a 25%market share.Summary A measure of how things havechanged for the better wasreflected recently in a majorone hour TV documentary -The Billion Pound FlowerMarket - screened onChannel 4 at peak viewingtime. Lyndon Mason was thelink man throughout thedifferent phases of theprogramme. It wasparticularly successful incommunicating to thepurchasing public the manygood things that are nowhappening within the Britishcut flower sector. It has beenestimated that the financialvalue of this programme inadvertising equivalent termswould have been well in to sixfigures.“There are many significantchallenges ahead but all of usat The Cut Flower Centre arenow facing the future with thatmuch greater confidence”concluded Lyndon Mason. u

Zinnias have been trialled at the Cut Flower Centre forseveral years but their vase life still limits their marketpotential.



16 • DUTCH TRADE FAIRS

That is about 50,000 sq.metres, divided equallybetween the two. The

soccer pitches provide spacefor under two hundred men,including referees andlinesmen. The trade fairs inearly November providedspace for the stands of athousand exhibitors, and theywelcomed a combined totalof more than forty thousandvisitors over a three-dayperiod.

16,000 came to the RoyalFloraHolland Trade Fair, atAalsmeer, about a thousandmore than last year. This setsa new record. At the seventhInternational Floriculture TradeFair just outside Haarlemthere were almost 25,000visitors. The figure was slightlydown on 2015, with visitornumbers from Spain,Germany and France affectedby national public holidays.The number of exhibitors wasa record, at 276. Both shows

are focused on flowers andornamental plants, but are inother respects so different in

emphasis and objectives thatthey are very much morepartners than rivals. Theyshared dates this year – 2nd to4th November – and sharedthe free coach shuttle servicebetween the two events, bothof them close to Amsterdam’sSchiphol airport.

The IFTF is above all a showfor the international trade incut flowers, but with potplants also very significant formany exhibitors and visitors. Itis an event that has verymuch a worldwideperspective. The word aboutIFTF has clearly spread farand wide. This year’s visitorscame from 101 countries,from Algeria to Venezuela,from neighbouring Belgium todistant New Zealand. A Britishexhibitor commented on thestrong representation ofvisitors from the Middle East,

African countries, and Russia.About 40% of the exhibitors

came from the Netherlands.Others came from countriesaround the world – Japan,Indonesia, India, the UnitedArab Emirates, Kenya,Rwanda, South Africa,Ethiopia, Colombia andEcuador were amongcountries represented byexhibiting companies. FromEurope, there were exhibitorsfrom Spain and Italy in thesouth to Denmark in thenorth.

David Austin Roses andHotbox International were twoof the four British companies.The heavily scented large-flowered varieties bred byDavid Austin Rosesspecifically for the cut flowertrade have become firmlyestablished as premiumproducts, grown in Africa and

The Fair Month of NovemberSeven international size soccer pitches take up just about the same amount of spaceas did this year’s two autumn fairs in the Netherlands for the cut flower and ornamentalplant trade.

IFTF - 25,000 visitors in three days led to crowded gangways.

Astro Red, one of the recently introduced poinsettia varietiesprominent on Beekenkamp Plants’ stand.


17DUTCH TRADE FAIRS •


exported worldwide.Sales manager Noel O’Leary

reported that his experiencethis year on the HotboxInternational stand had beenof ‘a good show again.’ Theflow of visitors was steady,and more useful contacts hadbeen made. A veteranexhibitor at trade fairs, he alsocommented on the goodquality of the organisation ‘asalways’.

For visiting growers, therewas no shortage of exhibitorsoffering them equipment andservices, as well as plantingmaterial of all kinds from seedonwards. Among manyothers, examples familiar toBritish growers are Gasa

Young Plants, Brandkamp,Koppert, Ludwig Svenssonand Philips Horticulture LEDSolutions.

Aalsmeer ShowThe Trade Fair of RoyalFloraHolland was launched in2004 to give the growers whoare members of the giantgrower-owned auctionnetwork a premiumopportunity to show theirproducts to buyers. Of the620 exhibitors in thisproducer category the greatmajority are therefore Dutch,but there were also Danishand Belgian growers on theexhibition floor. RoyalFloraHolland’s outreach to

Going next yearThe 2017 dates for both IFTF and the Royal FloraHollandTrade Fair are Wednesday 8th to Friday 10th November.This is a change from the dates previously announced onwebsites. All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day fall in the firstweek of November and are public holidays in somecontinental countries. They almost certainly affectedattendance this year.

British growers thinking ahead to November next yearmay very well find extra reasons to visit the two events.Morel, Schoneveld breeding, Syngenta and Varinova arethe world’s leading cyclamen breeders. All four will bewelcoming growers to their trials in the Netherlands atthat time. Konst Alstroemeria expect to do likewise, asthey did this year.

For poinsettia growers, Beekenkamp Plants had trialsthis year at their Maasdijk premises, near the Hook ofHolland, in the second week of November. Next yearthese may coincide with the two trade fairs.

By November next year most British visitors toEurozone countries like the Netherlands will hope for apound that has become stronger against the euro. Forgrowers, if the exchange rate stays little changed fromnow, there may be another side to this particular coin.That will be in the shape of greater opportunities forimport substitution.Either way, IFTF and the Aalsmeer Trade Fair offer freeentry to professionals, free show catalogues, free parkingand a free shuttle service between the two events. Andboth are within a half hour’s drive from Schiphol Airport.

Saying it with kalanchoes from the Queen series, bred inDenmark.

A stunning floral arrangement, one of many exhibited atIFTF.



18 • DUTCH TRADE FAIRS

suppliers of cut flowersextends far beyond Europe.There were also exhibitorsfrom Japan, and fromColombia and Ecuador. Thesuccessful appeal of theevent to buyers is shown bythe fact that a third of thevisitors came from othercountries, of courseincluding the UK.

Among the British visitorslast month was JonathanBrown of BarnsfoldNurseries in West Sussex,producers of bedding plantsand flowering pot plants. Hewas at the Aalsmeer eventfor the first time and saidthat he found his visit soworthwhile that he plans torepeat it in future years. Forhim and for the retailcustomer who accompaniedhim, one objective was novelideas for the Christmastrade, and they were notdisappointed. Theycombined visiting the TradeFair with attendingSyngenta’s launch event for

their new SeeWhy cyclamenseries.

With 470 stands, it is thegrowers of plants in pots thatdominate the exhibition floor.These range from traditionalmainstream products likecyclamen, roses, kalanchoeand phalaenopsis to citrus,ferns and bougainvillea.Hardy plants have asignificant place, too. Cutflower growers this yearaccounted for 150 stands,and there were over 50companies supplying addedvalue products and services,notably packaging.

Fifty breeding companieswere present, too.Beekenkamp Plants, forexample, on its stand washighlighting new and recentlyintroduced poinsettia andbegonia varieties. Forsomething very different –and hardy – young plantcompany Evanthia waspromoting its newlyintroduced ornamentalbrassica range Empire. u

Push-in planting and pull-outharvesting, tripled plantingdensity and up to two morecrop turns per year. That isprotected lettuce grownhydroponically using novelbut simple verticalengineering technology. AlexFisher, the founder of SaturnBioponics Ltd, explained theconcept – the firstcommercially viable 3-Dgrowing system, he claimed– to the recent GrowQuipconference. This event wasan initiative by theCommercial HorticultureAssociation, and is plannedto take place annually, topromote grower uptake ofinnovations in technologyand marketing.

Saturn Bioponics wasfounded just six years ago,but its products are alreadyattracting keen interest inChina, in the USA and on theContinent. As Alex Fisher putit, the idea is to put growingspace to full use for low-growing plants traditionallycultivated at ground level.There have already beencommercial successes withstrawberries and basil, aswell as lettuce.

At salad producersValefresco, Saturn Bioponicstechnology is now also beingsuccessfully applied for pakchoi. The company, based inthe Vale of Evesham,supplies this vegetable,grown in polyethyleneVisitors stream by while business is talked on the stand of

Beekenkamp Plants.

New Rijk Zwaan lettuce varieties under trial this Septemberat the Saturn Bioponics research centre.

New conference promotesinnovations in technology


19GROWQUIP •


houses, to almost all themajor supermarket chains.Yield per square metre hasbeen tripled.

The fundamental basis ofSaturn Bioponics productionmethod for all crops is arecirculating hydroponicgrowing system, mainly usingrockwool as the substrate.This is the same as fortomatoes, cucumbers andpeppers, but these are allplants with growth habits thatenable growers to useprotected space to maximumadvantage. Saturn Bioponicstechnology extends this to amuch wider range of crops.Payback periods for theinvestments required areusually three years or less.

Saturn Bioponics hasalready won widerecognition, including anSME innovation award thisyear from Innovate UK. Aswell as working with growerslike Valefresco, the companyis collaborating withprocessors and retailers, andwith Rijk Zwaan.

Pest control Development work towardsbetter results with sticky trapsfor whitefly and westernflower thrips was the topic ofspeaker Dr Clare Sampson.Her research career at KeeleUniversity on pest control forprotected crops in northernEurope and Spain has laid thefoundation for her current rolewith Russell IPM. Thecompany markets itsmonitoring and controlproducts in fifty countries.Clare Sampson spoke on theimportance of using the rightshade of yellow for whiteflysticky traps. Orange yellow,for example, is superior inproving much less attractiveto species that are beneficialin the crop productionenvironment. Some blackpatterns enhance the traps’effectiveness. For Western Flower Thrips,the reflective properties of theblue sticky traps areimportant. Again, some typesof black pattern increase thecatch of the adult pest by up

to 25%. An even greaterenhancement is given byadding pheromones.Speaker Marshall Dirks, fromProven Winners USA, spokeon brand promotion. In hiscountry 165 million plants ofthe Proven Winners varietyrange were sold last year.American retailers aresupported by fifteen advisorsnationwide. The ProvenWinners brand is alsopromoted in the UK. KernockPark Plants is the national

licensee, and the premiumrange of varieties of patioplants offered featuresprominently in the company’scatalogue and website.Among over thirty newintroductions for 2017 are sixcalibrachoa varieties in theSuperbells series, and fournew erysimums.Marshall Dirks said that itwas vitally important to findout what the consumer mostwanted. Social media was ‘agreat place to listen’, he said.Horticultural retailing had totake full advantage of theiPhone-driven life style andpurchasing habits of manymodern consumers.The Proven Winners varietyrange is continually refreshed,with breeders in manycountries among thehundred-plus partners andassociates of Proven Winners.Breeding priorities currentlyinclude ‘plants that solveproblems’ for their buyers.Low needs for trimming anddead-heading, and toleranceof watering neglect areexamples.Bruce Harnett, m.d. ofKernock Park Plants spokeabout the application ofautomation and robotics tohorticulture. He recentlycompleted a programme ofworldwide study visits, fundedby the Nuffield farmingScholarships Trust. A fullreport is available from theTrust. u

Marshall Dirks from Proven Winners in the USA outlining the growth of his business.



20 • PEPPERS

It is a familiar story in theprotected edibles. Thecommercial threat of

discount retailers such asAldi and Lidl has driven downprices. In terms of the sweetpepper market, this has ledto deflation over the last 18months, with a 7 per centdecline in total turnover; lastyear the UK sweet peppermarket was worth around£300 million. Estimates forproportion of the marketsupplied with British cropvary, but 60 per cent of UKproduction comes from theLea Valley. Imports from TheNetherlands, Spain, Israeland Morocco make up thebalance.“To give a sense of the

industry, cucumbers showeda deflation level of around 6per cent over the last 18months, but they werealready from a lower baseprice,” explains SamCannatella, Director ofgrowers Glinwell plc.“Consequently, it is gettingmore difficult to growpeppers profitably in the UK,especially if you have olderand smaller greenhouses.One positive of the deflationhas been a big uplift involume which increased by10% last year, predominantlyon the mixed three colourtraffic light pack.”“In light of the current

market conditions and theBrexit referendum result, weare seeing that it is a difficultsituation for all producewhether that is peppers,cabbage or carrots,” addsGerard van der Hut, UKCountry Manager for RijkZwaan. “Home grownproduce is going to be moreexpensive as the tools togrow successfully often

come from Europe. Theweakening pound willtherefore affect the price ofdomestic produce as well asimported products.”There are currently around

100 hectares of glassgrowing sweet peppers inthe UK, with the majorityproduced by large growerssuch as Glinwell, TangmereNurseries and Stubbins,some of whom work incollaboration with Spanishproduction to ensure out ofseason availability. “BritishGrown Sweet Peppers stillreceive a moderate marketprice, however, the Trafficlight packs have beencommoditised and reducedduring retailer price wars,”warns Lee Stiles of the LeaValley Growers Association.Consequently, many

growers and breeders arelooking for products whichadd something and avoidbecoming a commodity itemin the produce section. “Thestandard sweet CaliforniaPepper type is now verymuch a commodity and nolonger seen by the customer

as a more exotic foodingredient,” adds SamCannatella. “Growth in themarket is now coming fromthe large and small, sweetpointed peppers which mostretailers sell. The small sweettypes of peppers are versatilein use and are particularlypopular as snacks forchildren. The long ‘Palermo’types are also seen bycustomers as more upmarketand we have exclusivity onthe original ‘Ramiro’ sweetpointed pepper which wegive to our customer in theUK. The ‘Ramiro’ pepper isdistinct by having a unique‘hammered’ texture, beingvirtually seedless with a long,kinked, tapered shape, thinwalls and a sweeter eatingflavour than normal Californiapeppers.”“Other trends include

Sweetbite for snacking,Sweetpoint elongatedpeppers and stripy bi-coloured peppers,” addsMarcel Vis of Syngenta. “Wehave seen growth inSweetbite and Sweetpointover the last couple of years

and supermarkets arestocking a wider range ofcolours.”The sweet pepper category

in North West Europe hasbeen somewhat stagnant,with the traditional blockyCalifornian sweet pepper(Capsicum annuum) beingthe main product points outKelly Northcroft, ChainManager for Rijk Zwaan UK.“In the last couple of years inthe UK, we have seendevelopments in the peppercategory that follow the trendof tomatoes. We know thatfor the consumer the size of

Increasing sales suggest bright future for freshPeppers

The current range of peppers available from Syngenta above.Smaller producers are able to create local-branding (right).


21PEPPERS •


tomatoes is stronglyassociated with better taste,where smaller fruit equatesto being sweeter, and inpeppers we see the sametrend. We also know thatconsumers classify peppersby shape and this oftentranslates into use.“Now is the time for

diversification and the UKseems to be at the forefrontof this move. Next totraditional peppers, we seethe category growing insweet pointed types such asSweet Palermo, or the kapyatypes, and also mini snackpeppers and many hot chillipeppers and there are stillmore to be introduced, forspecific uses and dishesfrom all over the world.”Pepper growers face the

same issues in terms oflabour availability and accessto crop protection solutionsas the rest of the industry,but Joe Colletti, Director ofGlinwell plc points out that,“Sweet Peppers still remain atricky crop to grow. It isalways a challenge to keep

the plant in balance betweenvegetative and generativegrowth in order to produce asteady supply of product.Other issues are pests suchas aphids, thrips andcaterpillars which candamage the plants and fruitthus reducing yields. Virus

and Disease are also aproblem with all types ofpeppers and if not controlledcan destroy the crop.“Varieties can often change

every one to two years as thebreeders bring outimprovements on colour,shape, size along with P&Dtolerance/resistance. Thefour main colours are still red,green, yellow and orange inorder of customerpreference, howeverproblems can still occur withgreen peppers as they willchange colour in time.Longer lasting greens areavailable on the market butstill exhibit this naturalphysiological characteristic.” Like their sweet

counterparts, hotter chillipeppers also lendthemselves to differentiationwithin the category. “We areseeing more chillies insupermarkets with all kinds of flavour, and in bite-sizeand larger packs,” points outMarcel Vis. “We also have aspecific green pepperprogram in breeding. Wehave varieties that stay greenlonger than others.” Sweetand hot peppers are bothfrom the genus Capsicum,

and only differ in theirpungency. There are severalcultivated species used invarious parts of the world,and the main source ofdiversification is thought tobe somewhere in CentralAmerica.“We are starting to see more

and more Habaneropeppers, which are typicallyassociated with LatinAmerican cooking,” saysKelly. “This is a CapsicumChinese type, one of the 5domesticated species ofCapsicum.”Although larger growers are

now moving into chilliproduction, it has traditionallybeen the preserve of smallerspecialist growers. TheSouth Devon Chilli Farm wasestablished in 2001 by local‘chilli-heads’ Steve Watersand Jason Nickels. Today the10 acre farm grows 80varieties of chilli and hascelebrity fans including JamieOliver and Gillian Anderson.“UK fruits are fresher and it iseasier for consumers tocheck the quality of whatthey are buying,” says Steve.“There is definitely a trendtowards things getting hotterand customers are looking

Sam Cannatella & Joe Colletti – Directors of Glinwell.

Joe Colletti, Director of Glinwell plc points out that, “SweetPeppers still remain a tricky crop to grow.”



22 • PEPPERS

for a wider selection,although Jalapenos andHabaneros are still amongthe most commonly grownplants.” Like sweet peppers,chillies are not hardy plants,so need quite a bit of careand attention, with aphidsbeing the main pest.Last year Sussex-based

Barfoots opened a specialistchilli greenhouse to helpSainsbury’s with its aim ofstocking only UK-grownchillies. The new facilitycomplimented importedproduct from Senegal wherethe company had beengrowing the crop since 2010.“Senegal has really been agame-changer in terms ofthe quality of importedchillies into the UK market,”says Harry Wilder, Barfoots’international agronomist.“Our ambition was always tohave 52 weeks’ productionof chillies under our own in-house control. So theaddition of the greenhouse atSelsey ensured we candovetail the five-monthSenegalese season withBritish production. Thebenefits are improved quality,freshness and the all-important component of heatand flavour.”Despite the technical and

economic difficulties, likeother parts of thegreenhouse industry, there isstill some optimism about thefuture, provided that theindustry can reach more of alevel playing field. “UnlikeBritish farmers and Europeangrowers, British glasshousegrowers have not receivedany CAP or EU funding andthis has disadvantagedBritish growers when retailershave benchmarked the priceof British products againstEU prices,” points out LeeStiles. “The Weak Poundfollowing Brexit has resultedin expensive importedproduce, however this hasnot resulted in a priceincrease for British produce

and confidence to expand isdirectly linked to pricing andretailer relationships.”“There is still growth in the

upmarket segment ofpeppers but volume in thisarea is small compared tothe standard segment,”points out Sam Cannatella.“Pepper growing now reliesupon modern, high guttergreenhouses in NorthernEurope which come with ahigh investment cost. Thiscan only be pursued with thebacking of a major retailerwho’ll be able to move thevolume. We will continue tooffer British Sweet CaliforniaPeppers and will continue togrow conventional andorganic crops whereprovenance is key forcustomers. The upmarketsegment will be spearheadedby the ‘Ramiro’ SweetPointed Pepper, but we arealways on the lookout for thenext interesting type to bringto the UK market.”“I am positive that the UK

pepper market will remainstable in terms of productionarea,” comments Marcel Vis.“I think we will continue tosee a drive towardssupermarket sales, but UKcustomers are willing to paymore for UK product. Thereare opportunities to movefrom blocky loose peppers tomore special types and thereare different supermarkets fordifferent audiences.”Kelly Northcroft sums up the

overriding feeling of thesector: “Although peppersare historically a verytraditional product, theirfuture is in the discovery ofnew culinary uses, both freshand cooked. The days whengreen peppers were primarilythe staple pepper used forbaking are fading. There’s agreat future for pepperdiversification so longas the story behind its manyuses is told to the consumerin his or her cookingjourney.” u

The effectiveness oftargeting controlmeasures for gummy

stem blight, caused bymycosphaerella, according tothe number of disease sporesdetected in the glasshouse airhas been proven in trials attwo commercial nurseries thisseason in a project funded byAHDB Horticulture, growersheard at the Cucumber andPepper Growers’ Day inEssex in October.

An earlier stage of theproject had shown it waspossible to use a device inthe greenhouse to take dailyair samples which could thenbe analysed for spores usinga laboratory-based test,though the eventual aim is ahand-held ‘lateral flow’ kit ofthe kind already used bygrowers to detect somediseases in field vegetablecrops. The sporeconcentrations likely to posea disease risk have also beenestablished so trials thisseason tested protocols inwhich growers applied controlmeasures against three‘action thresholds’.

When spore numbers in theair samples were low, in the‘green’ range, the growerswere asked to follow routinecrop hygiene such asremoving crop debris anddisinfecting cutting knives andsurfaces, coupled withheating and venting to avoidhigh humidity or the risk ofcondensation forming onleaves. “Sprays of Switchmay also be made to stembases when spore numbersare within the ‘green’threshold,” said project leaderAlison Wakeham, a senior

research scientist atWorcester University.

If spore numbers exceededthe ‘amber’ threshold, culturalcontrols continued to beimplemented, but the stembase fungicide was changedto Talius or Reflect. Shouldspore numbers reach the‘red’ zone, further sprays ofTalius or Reflect were madeto protect the whole croprather than just the stembases.

Monitoring on the twonurseries showed that whenthis strategy was followed,spore numbers dropped backrapidly after the fungicideshad been applied. “At one,spore numbers rose to apoint where a major epidemicwould have been likely butbecause the treatment wasapplied in response, ratherthan waiting until symptomswere seen, the disease nevertook off,” said Dr Wakeham.

“We also saw a situationwhere there were a lot ofspores early on but withoutleading to infection, probablybecause the grower wasoperating effective crophygiene and environmentalcontrols.

“The key is getting the sprayon as soon as spore numbershit the amber threshold. Don’twait until you see lesions onthe crop as there will be hugenumbers of spores in the airby then.”

She said a laboratory-basedtest could be operatedcommercially to give growersresults within 24 hours buttrials of prototype lateral flowtest kits have now begun onone nursery and initial resultslooked promising.

Spore test gives warning oResearchers shared their latest findings ondisease control, high-wire production andlighting at a Cucumber and PepperGrowers’ Day, reports Spence Gunn.


23CUCUMBER •


Overall, levels of ‘myco’ rotshad been relatively low incommercial cucumber cropsthis year, said consultant IanBedford. “There are probablya number of reasons but thefact that growers are nowable to use Reflect has playedits part. It seems to be doinga great job against ‘myco’.But the results from the sporemonitoring project haveshown just how importantgood hygiene, ventilation andhumidity control are too.”

Mr Bedford said Reflect wasalso able to control powderymildew well when diseasepressure was low butexperience with Topenco andTopas (both containingpenconazole) suggested thatthey may be the better choiceagainst this disease. “Wetended to advise growers tokeep back the other newproduct, Talius, to havesomething in reserve butwhen it was used it workedwell,” he said. “It’s importantto have different modes ofaction to avoid resistanceissues so we should still alsobe making use of other

products that work too.”Some growers saw downy

mildew early in the seasonwhich Derek Hargreaves, whostands down at the end ofthis season as the CucumberGrowers Associationtechnical officer, said waslikely to have spread fromimported young plantsintended for the amateurmarket. “We’ve never had itso early before,” he said. “TheCGA wrote to the mainsuppliers to draw theirattention to it. The worry isthere is only one fungicideavailable, SL567a under anEAMU, and it’s limited tothree applications.”

Dr Wakeham’s colleagueTim Pettitt has been reviewingwater treatment systems forcontrolling root diseases in anAHDB-funded project. Hemade the point that growersshouldn’t rule out simple andinexpensive slow sand filtersas part of their approach towater treatment. “They areinexpensive and you can buildthem yourself,” he said.

Their slow action and needfor regular cleaning are

disadvantages but Dr Pettitthas recently shown that theiractivity can be speeded up byusing a layer of china claysand, a byproduct of theCornish china clay industry.He says its mineral contentaids the build-up of thebiofilm that is responsible forremoving pathogens, and theparticles are also less proneto clogging.“By putting a layer of chinaclay sand on top of the filteryou double the flow rate and

reduce the amount ofcleaning needed,” he said.“There is a role for biofilters toprovide, say, 60% of thetreatment as part of amultistage process.”

High wireMr Bedford has been workingwith several cucumbergrowers in the Lea Valley whohave switched to high-wirecropping in the last couple ofyears. “Some have seenparticular problems with

g of ‘myco’ in cucumbers

Alison Wakeham: spore numbers in air samples dictateaction.

Tim Pettitt: slow sand filters have a role in water treatment.

Ian Bedford: extra yield from high-wire cropping can offsetadditional labour costs.



24 • CUCUMBER

spider mite, often associatedwith the tops of the plantsgetting too hot. One nurseryhas had these issues for twoyears and it has restrictedyields big time in the summercrop. But there were alsosome good successes withpest control on high-wirecrops where growers had gottheir biocontrol right.”Some of those who havebeen pioneering high-wiregrowing in the Lea Valley havebeen disappointed with theresults so far, he said. “Oneproblem is that it’s not alwayspossible to invest in newglass. The Dutch say youneed a five metre height; Ithink it can be 3.7 to 4mthough one grower is trying itat 2.8m.“The dream, of course, ishigher yields and quality andlower plant costs because

you have two crops instead ofthree. But that is counteredby increased labour. If you getit right, the extra labour costis more than offset by theextra yield and most in theLea Valley are managinglabour very well.”He added that although yieldsfrom the first crop were often‘spectacular’, the secondcrop could be poor. “On onenursery, mosaic virus reallykicked in on the second cropwhich brought the yielddown.“More generally, maintainingvigour has been a problem,especially on virus-resistantvarieties.”Plants in a two-crop high-wiresystem are being pushedharder and so are often a bitweaker, he says, and hethinks this may make themmore susceptible to viruses.

Thanet Earth grower Arjan deGier agreed that it wasimportant to keep the high-wire plants growing stronglythrough the season, whichwas why it was important tohave modern tall glass andgood CO2 enrichmentcapacity. He added: “With more labourworking in the crop there isan increased risk of spreadingvirus.“But if you don’t think you willhave enough labour available– and there is a questionmarkabout that following Brexit –then don’t go high wire. Youneed 50% more labour thanin a conventional crop.However, high wire would besuitable for robotisation andthat may have to be thefuture.”

LightingLEDs could be a solution forsupplementary lighting inhigh-wire cucumber crops inglasshouses where there’s nospace for standard high-

pressure sodium lampsoverhead or where theywould make the tops of theplants too hot, results fromtrials undertaken by Philips ina commercial nursery in theNetherlands suggest.GreenPower LED lamp unitswere mounted in a ‘doubleinterlighting’ set-up – at twoheights between the rows –rather than overhead.Philips’ high-wire cropsspecialist Piet Hein van Baarsaid the installation hadenabled the grower toachieve a higher head densitythan in the unlit part of theglasshouse used forcomparison, and to grow thecrop 1 to 1.5°C warmer. Thelit crop came into pick twoweeks earlier, average fruitweights were higher earlier inthe season and the yield wasup by 11 to 12kg per sq m.“The lit crop recoveredquicker after dull weather,too,” he said. “There was less‘myco’ in the lit crop and thesticks had a longer shelf-life.”Stockbridge TechnologyCentre researchers PhillipDavis and David Georgebrought the growers’ day upto date with progress inAHDB Horticulture-fundedprojects on use of LEDs tomanage light quality inprotected cropping. Thestudies are beginning to showthe potential of using LEDs toprovide light at specificwavelengths, for example toschedule flowering or modifythe flavour of a crop. But as Dr George pointedout, changing the lightenvironment in a glasshouseor within the kinds of verticalgrowing systems currentlybeing investigated may alsoaffect the behaviour of insectpests and of the biologicalcontrol species growers nowrely on. “That bringsopportunities to use light bothagainst the pest and in favourof the beneficials and it’ssomething we are just startingto understand,” he said. u

Arjan de Gier: need 50%more labour for a high-wirecucumber crop.LEDs offer prospects for year-round

pepper cropThe use of LEDs instead of conventional high-pressuresodium lamps to provide top lighting for peppers opensup the possibility of economic year-round production ofthe crop, Philips’ high-wire crops specialist Piet Heinvan Baar told the growers’ day.He said that results from trials undertaken by the lightingcompany pointed to a future for LEDs for top lighting,

rather thaninterlighting, for thiscrop.Mr Hein van Baar saidseveral trials using LEDinterlighting in peppershad resulted in up to10% greaterproductivity while therewas also less fruitabortion in dullweather. “But becauseof the angle of the lightoutput it can take upto two months beforethe crop reaches aheight at which all thelight can be used,” headded.

Piet Hein van Baar: LEDinterlighting led to less fruitabortion.


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26 • RESEARCH DIARY

Plant growth can beoptimized under hydroponicconditions and thecomparison betweenaquaponics and hydroponicshas attracted considerableattention recently, particularlyregarding plant yield. Butprevious research has notfocused on the potential ofusing aquaponic solutioncomplemented with mineralelements to commercialhydroponic levels to increaseyield. A research group withBelgium, Dutch and Britishscientists put lettuce plantsinto “AeroFlo” installationsand used hydroponic,aquaponic, or complementedaquaponic solutions (Water).Hydroponic and aquaponictreatments exhibited similar

plant growth, whereas theshoot weight of thecomplemented aquaponictreatment showed asignificantly increased growthrate on average compared tothe other two treatments. Theroot weight was similar inaquaponic andcomplemented aquaponictreatments with bothsignificantly higher than in thehydroponic treatment. Theresults highlight the beneficialeffect of recirculatingaquaculture system water onplant growth. Microorganismsand dissolved organic matterare suspected to play animportant role in recirculatingaquaculture system water forpromoting plant roots andshoots growth.

Tip-burn is a severe problemin producing butterheadlettuce under artificial lightingand develops as aconsequence of decreasedcalcium concentrations inleaves. Japanese researchersinvestigated the effects of lightintensity on tip-burndevelopment and calciumconcentration in leaves bycomparing their growth rates(HortScience). Butterheadlettuce was grown in a plantfactory under artificial light atphotosynthetic photon flux(PPF) densities of 150, 200,250, and 300 mol·m−2·s−1.

Fresh and dry weights ofshoots, relative growth rate,the number of leaves, and thenumber of tip-burned leavessignificantly increased with

light intensity. Associationsexisted between growth andtip-burn occurrence. Calciumabsorption rate per plant alsoincreased with light intensity inassociation with increasedwater absorption rate andcalcium concentrations in theentire plant and outer leavesincreased with light intensity.Calcium concentration in theinner enclosed leaves did notincrease with light intensity. This can be attributed to thehigher mass flow of calciumto outer leaves than to innerleaves, driven bytranspiration, under high lightintensities. A lack of calciumin the inner leaves resultingfrom rapid growth maycontribute to the frequenttipburn development.

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