That’s the question that often crops up when I talk to growers who specialise in growing vegetable plants. Usually followed by: ‘That’s what you do on a concrete floor, isn’t it? Doesn’t a porous cultivation floor involve a risk? What’s the story with the hygiene protocol, for example?’
Several growers of vegetable plants in other countries have now opted for the ErfGoedFloor. Jan Mulder, a consultant with the Grow Group (now Plantise) is someone who has several years of experience in France with growing tomato and cucumber plants on our floor: ‘A concrete floor can easily get too warm and stay warm for a long time. With an ErfGoedFloor, we can allow water in to keep the floor cool and establish a good microclimate. That is perfect for the cultivation of vigorous plants with larger and healthier root systems,’ he explains. You can find a film about this project here.
In the Netherlands, the idea was that concrete is more hygienic. Wageningen University Greenhouse Horticulture has now clearly proven that the hygiene protocol for the prevention of quarantine organisms on this floor can be implemented effectively and efficiently. If you want to know more, mail or call me! I’ll be happy to send you the results.
A major benefit of the cultivation floor is that it makes growers much more flexible. The structure of the floor makes it suitable for all pot sizes. I am sometimes surprised myself to see how easy it is to switch between crops and how many crops you can actually grow on it. And that includes much more than just pot and bedding plants. On top of all that, plants demonstrably do better on the cultivation floor and they also grow faster. So you also have a shorter growing period.
And that is clearly linked to the arguments put forward by Jan Mulder. Every time we have tests conducted, whether with vegetable plants or, for example, Phalaenopsis, they tell us that the root system of the crop in question develops better on our floor than on other cultivation systems. And, by definition, a healthy root system means a vigorous plant!
If you grow vegetable or soft fruit crops, my challenge to you is to conduct extensive testing with ErfGoed on our ErfGoedFloor. Here and now, I can predict excellent results that will surprise you!
Are you interested? Feel free to call or email me.