Oman- The Greenhouse Masters
Date
11/15/2016 1:05:18 AM
(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Flowers more exotic than the humble tulip will soon flourish for the first time in Dutch greenhouses.
plant with a lot of potential for dutch greenhouses and have decided to start growing it,' said researcher filip van noort. how many orchids will be planted will be decided at the start of the next growing season in the spring, and it will take at least three years before the first dutch-grown vanilla hits the market. in bleiswijk, home to the ground-breaking research, vines from about 100 plants stretch metres high in hot, tropical greenhouses. hidden under fleshy, oval-shaped leaves are the buds, that will eventually become the vanilla pods so prised by chefs the world over. 'the challenge is to ensure the plants blossom and then to be able to pollinate them in a cost-effective way,' said van noort. black gold cultivation is hugely labour intensive. the orchid's flowers only last one day and must be pollinated by hand if they are to produce fruit. so it was an apt challenge for the dutch - renowned for their green fingers and their expertise in greenhouse cultivation. 'a few years ago we were looking for new plants which could be grown in dutch greenhouses,' explained van noort.
vanilla pods in a jar