Our Method

It takes 2 years to make an apple fruit tree and 3 years to make a pear fruit tree. Every time that we plant bench grafts or sleeping eyes we use fresh soil. It is not possible to use one parcel more than once because of a kind of soil sickness.

Crop protection is very important. It takes 2 days each week to control the whole nursery. After the inspection we make a report of what we have seen and we make a list what has to be sprayed. To spray the trees we use a spraying machine with air support and a spraying computer. On both sides of the machine the spraying boom is 14 metres; total 28 metres. The tank contains 2800 litres. Mostly we use 200 litres per ha. That means that we can spray 14 ha with one tank.

The trees are lifted with a machine that can dig out about 30.000 trees per day. The trees are graded in the field in different qualities and collected on iron pallets. The lifted trees are transported to a storage shed. Here they are regularly moistened by a sprinkle installation that produces a kind of fog.

If possible we deliver the trees within a week after lifting. If it is necessary to store the trees for a longer time (2-3 months) we put the trees in a cool store at 1°C. For the transport of the trees we use a closed truck so that the trees cannot desiccate.

All the rootstocks, bud and graft wood we use are certified by the NAK-tuinbouw (Inspection Service for Floriculture and Arboriculture) and, as far as available are virus free. Some new varietis are not yet 100% virus free. In spite of that it is possible to buy bud and graft wood of such a variety. To make it clear to the costumer that these trees are not complete virus free the trees get a white label. Trees that are virus free gat an orange label.

An independent inspector of the Inspection Service regularly inspects the plants in the nursery.