The Greenhouse Grower Magazine Articles

Enjoy a sneak peak of articles from past issues of The Greenhouse Grower Magazine. Subscribe now to view more articles from past and new issues.

Project to tackle aggressive strain of lettuce disease

AHDB has commissioned work on lettuce fusarium wilt following the first confirmed outbreak of the disease in the UK, on a soil-grown protected lettuce crop in Lancashire. It was also recently found on a crop in Ireland. The UK outbreak, reported in October, has been confirmed as race 4 of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lactucae, the...

Dec 31, 2017

Retail Sales

Supermarket sales have increased by 3.1% compared to last year with the retailers seeing steady increases for over 17 months, according to a latest report by Kantar Worldpanel. As usual all of the major supermarkets have witnessed varied performances over the period 12 weeks up until October 8. Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer...

Nov 21, 2017

Four Oaks 2017 review

Among the ‘best first show days at Four Oaks since the year 2000.’ That was the consensus of views among exhibitors about Tuesday 5th September. Even at the end of the afternoon of the following day – rather quieter but still busy – it was taking quarter of an hour to get out of the...

Oct 31, 2017

Chelmsford Council capitalises on growing its own

Producing bedding plants on site for some 20 years, Chelmsford City Council Parks Department is now one of just three in Essex producing its plants in-house for civic displays. The department holds 13 Green Flag Awards – the international quality mark for outstanding parks and green spaces. The Council’s small production team grows in excess...

Sep 30, 2017

Lights under the spotlight

Building on the success of last autumn’s Horticultural Lighting Conference staged in the US, the inaugural event in Europe was staged at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, writes Steven Vale. Bringing growers and manufacturers together, the targeted one-day Horticultural Lighting Europe conference was designed as a fast-paced and informative event to share the latest...

Sep 30, 2017

More options than ever

The way in which greenhouses are heated has changed a lot over the years. If you look back far enough in horticultural history coal boilers and brick walls to retain latent heat were common, something few commercial growers would countenance today. These changes have been driven by a number of different factors, including economics and...

Aug 31, 2017

The need for investment

From the moment he starts talking about the industry, you can hear the passion in Pas Milazzo’s voice. He speaks enthusiastically about the glasshouse sector and is clearly very proud to be growing in the Lea Valley, alongside some of the best producers in the country and in a region steeped with horticultural history. “I...

Jul 31, 2017

New technology opens up investment

Almost any process in the nursery or greenhouse can be automated to some extent, from seeding and potting, to complex systems for moving plants around and even harvesting. On top of this, most environmental controls and many irrigation systems are automated to some degree. However, because of the many different processes involved in different types...

Jul 31, 2017

Securing finance for growers

The market for finance in horticulture has for the past 12 months afforded growers the opportunity to invest in their businesses at historically low rates. However, to access competitively priced finance requires the correct approach to the right lender, yet it remains a common failing that many lenders fail to fully comprehend the requirements of...

Jun 13, 2017

Less distinction between polytunnels and glasshouses

The use of polytunnels in commercial horticulture has expanded greatly over the last ten years or so, particularly as growers of field crops such as soft fruit and salads have embraced them, both as a way of extending the season but also of protecting high value crops from the unpredictability of the British weather. At...

May 31, 2017