Lush, graceful, chic, exclusive, distinctive, romantic and extremely suitable for high-quality flower arrangements: the Gloriosa! We met Antoine Hoeijmakers from the Glorious Gloriosa nursery at the Trade Fair last November. Antoine is the only Dutch grower who grows Gloriosa all year round. About time we paid this passionate grower a visit.
Glorious Gloriosa
Antoine and Anja Hoeijmakers have been growing Alstroemerias for twenty years. Ten years ago they were given the opportunity to relocate the company and introduce a new crop. Antoine wanted to focus more on niche cultivation. Not big, but exclusive. He came into contact with a Gloriosa grower in Groessen who wanted to phase out. This was an excellent opportunity for Antoine and Anja to take over this special crop and say goodbye to the Alstroemerias. In the Netherlands there are only four growers who grow Gloriosa, of which Antoine is the only one with year-round production. No plant material is available from Gloriosa, so it remains an exclusive product and its value is preserved.
Four types of Gloriosa
Gloriosa is a root vegetable that originated in Africa and Asia. A long time ago these two species were crossed which resulted in the current Gloriosa Rothschildiana. Over the years, a number of species have been added. Antoine and Anja now grow four varieties:
Gloriosa Rotschildiana (80%)
This is the most famous Gloriosa. She is known for her beautiful deep pink/red petals that fade to yellow in the heart.
Gloriosa Exotic Orange
This Gloriosa has a beautiful soft orange color, transitioning to a yellow heart. This variety is also available year round and is in increasing demand.
Gloriosa Twin Colour
Twin Color is a double colored Gloriosa. The main color of this cheerful flower is yellow. On the back of the petal she has a beautiful salmon colored vein. This variety is especially popular around Easter.
Gloriosa Exotic Pink
A beautiful pink Gloriosa with a soft yellow edge to the petal. An exclusive variety from which Antoine is making more plant material.
Valentine
Cultivation
Antoine has a passion for entrepreneurship: “All aspects fascinate me. The search for improvement and changes. We don't want to become so much bigger, but we do want to get the maximum production out of this company with good quality. Depending on the demand from the market, we do what we can and if more is needed, we will try to fill that in.”
Labor intensive
Gloriosa is a beautiful, but fragile product. The entire cultivation process is done manually, which makes this cultivation extremely labour-intensive. Gloriosa is a climbing plant and grows in mesh at the nursery. Every week the fluff is removed and the grown branches are guided to the correct side of the mesh, so that they do not completely interlock.
After the tubers have been planted, it takes about eight to nine weeks before the first flowers can be cut. One branch gives about ten buds. The first five flowers are cut as monoflowers (25/30cm). The top of the branch grows to 65-90 cm and is processed with several flowers on a branch.
The harvested branches remain for another five months. During this time, the tuber forms two new tubers. After these five months, the tubers are lifted, split and prepared for reuse for potted plants or cut flowers. In this way Antoine is completely self-sufficient in his own plant material.
Shelf life and care
We were pleasantly surprised about the shelf life of the Gloriosa. At first glance, it looks like a very fragile, delicate flower. But after the flowers had been on display at the Trade Fair all week, they were allowed to shine on the FloraPodium for at least another ten days. Antoine indicates that the short mono flowers last about ten days in the vase, the long branches twelve to fourteen days. The maturation process of the flower is the same, both on the short and long branches. However, the short branches only have one flower and the long ones have several, so when the lower flower has finished blooming, the others will still open and you will enjoy them longer.
The flowers have an exotic background, it is important that they are not put away at temperatures below 7°C. When temperatures are too cold, black spots appear on the leaf.
More care tips can be found on the Glorious Gloriosa website.
MPS
Antoine is MPS A and MPS Gap certified. Gloriosa is a crop that suffers little from diseases. Gloriosa is slightly poisonous; not so toxic that it bothers people or pets, but small harmful insects are affected. As a result, little pest control is required and Antoine can largely control his crop with biological control. In recent years, there have been more and more caterpillars and moths, Antoine has purple traps hanging for this.
Watering system
Each hood contains a scale on which the plants stand. The water requirement of the plant is met on the basis of the weight. This is a very accurate system, can be regulated per hood and gives exactly the right amount of water, so there is no drain water. The water that the plants receive is rainwater, to which fertilizers have been added.
Pleasant working atmosphere
Besides cut Gloriosa, Antoine also grows potted Gloriosa and Mandevilla. Mandevilla is not exactly an exclusive product, but from a labor point of view it fits very well next to Gloriosa cultivation and it is extremely well appreciated. This combination allows him to divide the work well among the staff, which is important to him. “We want a pleasant working atmosphere, if people are happy at the company, then we are happy too and we all enjoy going to work every day.”
FloraPodium, 27 January 2022
