Specialist Crop Agronomy
In the past, Lincolnshire's fertile soils and historic links with Holland made it the UK's prime county for growing tulips, daffodils and a vast array of cut flowers. Over the years, the number of growers has declined, but those remaining have specialised, increasing in siz
e and technology. The remaining growers target production towards supplying the growing supermarket requirement. Surrounding this, the flower procurement and pack-house industry has massively developed in the area over the last 10 years, making Lincolnshire the prime county for this area of crop production.
Expert advice in this sector is hard to find. Boothmans are recognised as one of the few companies with the required expertise to help make this sector viable and profitable. The challenge has become harder over recent years with the continued loss of specialist pesticides through the European Annex Reviews and stringent rules governing protocol compliance. Boothmans have been proactive in meeting this challenge by initiating extensive in-house chemicals trials to allow viable flower production to continue. Twinned with this, we have experience in using biological and non pesticide alternative treatments.
Our skills have enabled growers to produce flowers to the highest quality standards, minimising the requirement of hand labour for weed control. Appropriate fungicide and insecticide inputs have helped maximise flower output. These techniques allow specialist crops to be grown over larger acreages increasing grower output and efficiency.
All flower crops can be advised on by Boothmans, with particular expertise in the following flowers:
- Daffodils
- Tulips
- Sunflowers
- Sweet Williams
- Gladioli
- Delphiniums
- Stocks & Nigella
- Larkspur
- Carthamus
- Other glasshouse grown flowers
Edible brassicas such as cauliflower, calabrese, cabbage and brussel sprouts are also within our remit of specialist advice. Correct choices for weed control, fertiliser use, insecticide and fungicide planning are essential for high quality, blemish free produce. This stringent quality demand must be met within a growers cost budget and meet supermarket protocol compliance requirements.
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