First plants go into the greenhouse in April

At the beginning of October 2017 we started to build a new greenhouse for Vissers Plant Innovators in Limburg, America. The project is over 5 hecatres of new greenhouse area for strawberry plants. In december, the entire roof was fully glazed. The frist plants will go into the greenhouse in April.

The new 5 hectare greenhouse at Vissers is built to replace the outdoor strawberry cultivation in full soil. Bert de Vries says that the cultivation under glass gives the possibility to better control the climate of the growing conditions. Weather influences will be excluded under glass as much as possible.

Seasonal workers - Also important for seasonal workers who are less interested in working in the open field under often harsh conditions. De Vries: "it is becoming increasingly difficult to find motivated staff to work in the open field. Many of our seasonal workers perfer to work in a greenhouse."

Cheaper - Outdoor strawbery cultivation will not disappear. After all, it is still cheaper to grow in outdoor. "Producing on so many hectares (Vissers cultivates strawberry plants on more than 100 hectares in  mostly full soil) under glass is very expensive", says De Vries. In time, 15 hectares could be added to the location in America.

Tray plants - Due to the shift of strawberry cultivation form outdoor to the cultivation in tunnels and greenhouses, there is an increasing demand for more tray plants. The supply of plants directly from the colling, so-called frigoplants, is also increasing in demand.