The last quarter of the year is upon us. This means our locations are busy with the crop rotation! Cultivation change involves several tasks. Examples include removing old crop, preparing the greenhouses for the new crop and planting new eggplant plants. The work performed is the same each year, but differs in terms of dates. Thus, there can be a maximum of 2 months between the first location that starts planting and the last location that plants. Curious about exactly what we do during the crop change months? We tell you all the ins and outs in this blog!
Cutting plants cleanly
The beginning of the crop rotation is marked by the “clean cutting” of the plants. This includes harvesting every last eggplant. Once this is done, the stems at the bottom of the plant are cut off.
Did you know that each plant has three main branches attached with string? We will tell you more about this in the article From Seed To Eggplant! After the stems are cut, the plants appear to be basically hanging from the strings.
Crop Removal
Once the stems are cut, we can begin removing the crop. We accomplish this by pulling down each plant, breaking the strings, and placing them on a black mat. These black mats run from the beginning to the end of each path. Then the crop lying on the ground is shredded. The remaining plant residues are composted for reuse. This way, we also do recycling during the crop rotation!
Removing Materials
It is now time to remove materials from the previous crop, think of the rock wool mats used on which the plants are growing, foil, and so on. These are collected by a specialized company that recycles the materials. The material we can reuse, such as droppers, is cleaned and disinfected. At this time of year, we also perform maintenance and repair work in the greenhouse. This way we make sure everything is working properly and ready for the new eggplant plants!
Preparing for new eggplants
Once everything is empty and the equipment is cleaned, it is time to clean the greenhouses. We do this by spraying everything thoroughly. With the greenhouse sparkling clean again, we set to work preparing for the arrival of the new eggplant plants. This involves putting new material, such as rock wool mats and foil, in the greenhouse. The rockwool slabs are pre-filled with water and just before the plants arrive, the greenhouse is reheated.
Planting new eggplants
Once the plants have been cut clean, the crop and materials removed and the greenhouses completely cleaned, it’s time to plant new eggplants! The planting of one greenhouse is completed in just one day. Did you know that we have a total of 600,000 plants at our four locations? This means a lot of planting in one day.
During the crop change, everything is about getting ready for the new year. In the new year, the seeds grow back into eggplants and find their way to consumers. Wondering how this works? Then read this article!
