A Regional Roundup from Growers Around NZ

John Van Delft from Otago

Re: Otago retail update

Some florists are reporting that currently trade has been variable, up and down causing some frustration. Central Otago was very busy with tourists with accommodation difficult to find. Queenstown weddings are popular and creating demand for flowers. The effects of the dairying financial downturn is being felt in rural areas affecting discretionary spending. Valentines Day was generally down a bit but this was to be expected. 

Kind regards

John van Delft

Ian Kempthorne from Canterbury

We have had a very dry summer and some hot temperatures which create high insect pressure.  Thrips have been a really big issue this year.

Weather in the last few weeks has slowed the production up a bit as the light levels have dropped off but we are still getting a nice bit of sunshine.

We have been busy removing white wash and maintaining the crop ready for Mother’s Day when any flower and colour goes well depending on mum’s tastes.

Some nice Proteas and Leucadendrons are coming into the market, also Cymbidiums and Birds of Paradise have been a welcome change. A new line of spray Alstroemeria was nice to see on the auction floor for something different.

Gentians seem to be going well and a few Freesias also.

Outside Lilly is just about finished for the season.

Looking ahead to Mother’s Day, production levels could hold up with some nice Autumn days; in Canterbury we can only hope for some good sales and nice product for all Mums.

Regards

Ian

Richard Mangin from Nelson

We have had a season that has threatened drought several times but it has been averted by several large dumps of rain. The threat of El Nino has resulted in a warm season with timely rainfall.

Managing timings of crops has been challenging with the warmer weather giving peaks of production earlier than usual. 

Outside growers have had a magnificent growing season with extended warm dry periods reducing disease pressure. 

Our local Peony growers have benefited from better than usual winter chilling giving good crops.

Local debate centres on the over allocation of water in the Waimea plains. Like many areas around the country the new Resource Management rules mean that irrigation restrictions will be imposed at higher minimum river flows. Locally there is a proposal for a water augmentation dam to be built, the issue here is as always the cost, and who pays for it, ratepayers or us fat cat irrigators. The current season has been one to highlight the issue, where we had restrictions several times, and under the new rules the restrictions would have been imposed earlier and ramped up quicker.

On the export front we have had a much easier time across a number of different crops, largely due to a more favourable exchange rate.

Regards

Richard

Frans Van Dorsser from Pukekohe

Auckland summer season was an interesting challenge. The weather was warmer than average however sunlight levels were down slightly on the last few years. This did not affect growth too much as there was still plenty of light however it did make reducing the 24hour temp to desired levels more challenging. Disease pressure was low – we had less thrip presence however we did have a bit more powdery mildew then normal and with the wet weather we got caught out once with downy mildew.

Production targets have been met. We trialled one of our glasshouses with some d-fuse coating this year and were very happy with the results.

Prices have been a little more sporadic than last year, on average down somewhat. Wellington prices especially seemed to be under pressure for us.

Mother’s Day is looking very good, we are expecting good production and good quality.

Regards

Frans