Less than two years after construction began, one of the country’s leading plant nurseries, Zealandia, has completed a four hectare glasshouse for the raising of flower and vegetable seedlings., and it turns out that even four hectares is not enough to meet demand. So the company is completing a further two hectares of under-glass space by the end of 2016.

National General Manager, Pedro Wylaars, says the company has set itself some ambitious challenges. “Physical expansion is just the outward sign of a drive towards fulfilling on our mantra, Plants First. We’re also investing heavily in the latest growing technologies so that we can deliver the best possible plants to our customers, whether they are retail garden centres or commercial growers.

“That technology includes the latest transplant equipment, which virtually eliminates shock when seedlings are transplanted to a larger growing environment. That’s backed up by new product handling equipment for moving seedling cells and trays – carefully and accurately.”

Also due to come online shortly is a new biomass boiler, which can recycle green waste to provide heat for its operations. Biomass heating is environmentally friendly, as it uses carbon that is part of the natural carbon cycle – as opposed to carbon that is locked up in fossil fuels.

The changes go beyond just technology. Zealandia is now on the hunt for a new Head Grower – someone with the skills and vision to take things to a whole new level.

“We’re after a particular kind of person,” Wylaars says. “Someone with great technical knowledge, and also the ability to lead a team of highly experienced growers. They need to be smart, fit, strong, a great listener, a passionate advocate and – above all – fanatical about plant quality.”

Whoever is chosen will enjoy one of the most desirable jobs in New Zealand horticulture. With a history dating back to the 1920s, Zealandia has a proud reputation for investing in people and technology to produce stronger, healthier plants. The company has championed the use of rock wool as an inert, disease-free growing medium that allows growers to grow exceptionally productive plants.

It is also the sole New Zealand distributor of the Grodan Rock Wool growing substrate and the GroSens system, considered one of the world’s best for measuring plant health and growth.

With the Auckland expansion almost complete, Zealandia has now begun building a young-plant nursery alongside the existing facility in the Christchurch suburb of Belfast. The original young plant facility is being refurbished into a vegetative plant propagation facility.

“The result is that Zealandia will continue to meet the needs of New Zealand gardeners and commercial growers well into the future,” Wylaars says. “Not only that, we’ll also keep doing what the market looks to us for – setting new benchmarks for plant quality.”