After a romantic Valentine's week we all feel that spring is coming. To reinforce that wonderful feeling we bring you this week a tulip theme on the FloraPodium. Many different types of tulips have been given a nice place on the Podium. All these products come from 5 tulip growers from the co-operation 'CoasTulip'. Under the motto 'together we stand stronger', they bring the tulip to the attention in a positive way. They all grow a unique assortment, so that the assortments of the 5 members do not compete with each other. In this way they can also offer a versatile range for customers.

CoasTulip

The 5 CoasTulip companies, Gebr. de Groot & zn, C.P Zoontjes, Jac de Winter & zn, Dolf de Wit & zn and Fa. A & L Duin, are all located in the North Holland coastal town of Heemskerk. They all grow in the ground and know one thing for sure: together we are stronger. That is why they have joined forces and are promoting themselves as CoasTulip (pronounced: Coast Tulip). They are all professionals with small to medium-sized companies where many operations are still done manually. By using their own paper packaging with a contemporary logo, they are very noticeable in the group of all the tulip growers.

Benefits of cooperation

The advantage of the collaboration is the synergy produced amongst its members when working together for a common brand name. The name CoasTulip now exists for four years and that is beginning to pay off. All five growers were already at the top of the market, so it was quite exciting to join forces. But they notice that the florists and exporters find them easier. Responsibilities are distributed more easily among its members and therefore everyone has their own role within the cooperation.

Growers visit

We have visited Gebr. De Groot and zn. in Heemskerk. This is one of the 5 companies affiliated with CoasTulip. Jerry, one of the owners of Gebr. de Groot and zn, we already know. His Eremurus has also been in our spotlights. Jerry also wanted to represent the CoasTulip. The Gebr. De Groot believes it is important to transfer knowledge. That is why Marcel, the other owner of Gebr. De Groot and zn. told us about the "old" gardeners days that are organized by the company every year. Here, an excursion with the children from nearby schools is given at the nursery. These gardeners are called the grandfathers. In this way they try to transfer the beautiful subject to the new generation.

Guided tour CoasTulip

Carla winter organizes guided tours for CoasTulip from Monday to Friday. During these 120-minute guided tours, the enthusiastic guide shows the nurseries of the CoasTulip! You then visit the sandy grounds where the tulips grow and the visit to the greenhouses makes the tour complete. Are you interested in this tour? Send an email to info@coastulip.nl and they can organize the tour for you!

Purple Piony

We give extra attention to the tulip Purple Piony this week. Jerry and Marcel has been growing Purple Piony for about 10 years, but the tulip itself is already a bit older. It is a purple tulip with double petals. Jerry is crazy about this purple tulip because this tulip will lead a life of its own on the vase. The flower is long and has a nice heavy head. It has an intense purple color and which does not discolor in the vase. Jerry himself likes the combination of the green leaves with the purple head. This purple tulip is also very strong as you can already see that in the ground. The bulbs make a lot of roots, so you can see that the product has a lot of power.

The cultivation of the five growers have one thing in common: they all grow in the open ground and in sandy soil. By planting fewer tulips on a square meter and the unique combination of sea, dunes and sand, heavy quality tulips can be delivered.

Cultivate in the open ground

We also spoke with Erwin of the company Dolf de Wit & zn, to ask for a little more explanation about that cultivation in the open ground. Erwin grows the beautiful tulip 'Leo' that was shownt on the stage last week. Erwin tells us: "By growing in the ground you are following the real natural process. It has the time to grow calmly so you get a more intense color and a heavier quality. "All five companies’ grow them at a temperature of 14 degrees. They all use heavier and thicker bulbs to plant, so the starting material is already qualitatively better.

We were of course also very curious what that sandy soil has to do with the quality of the bulbs. That has everything to do with the sandy soil. The roots can be deeply rooted, up to 50 cm deep! Because of the deep roots, the plant can go ahead and the tulip can get enough power. "When we take our tulips out of the ground, they crack their freshness," says Erwin.

Steaming

All five growers use a roller greenhouse to attract the tulips for the final phase. The soil is also steamed at all the growers for planting. The soil is heated up to 90 degrees so that all diseases and fungi are removed. This is the ideal basis for a good growth process. The tulips are planted outdoors in the open ground from October to the beginning of December, so that the tulips can be optimally rooted. The flowers are then harvested with the greatest attention from January to May.

FloraPodium, 21 February 2019