Feature 2010-08-08
 Greenhouse
To supply high uniformed quality and stable production Phalaenopsis cut flowers, a new greenhouse construction has started in November 2008 and will be fully finished in September 2009. It is located at our Apollo farm (Dalat ,Vietnam). Cut flowers production will start in October 2009. Over 6,000 stems of cut flowers of different varieties and colors will be produced per week. Royal Base has become the largest Phalaenopsis cut flower producer in the world. The different stages of the building will be shown in a special photo album.
The new greenhouse complex has a total floor area of 13,920 m2 with 9,600 m2 greenhouse area and 4,320 m2 working area. The greenhouse area has designs of 6-meter gutter height, two stories of pad and fan cooling system, and glass roof and wall for stronger light which create an optimal micro climate for stable Phalaenopsis production.
The greenhouse is stored with Priva Integro computer system, irrigation unit and UNIFan, shading and energy saving screen system, container system, overhead irrigation system in the vegetative growth and spiking area, dripping irrigation system in the flowering area and hot water and heating pipes system.
The greenhouse area is designed into 3 sections for different stages of cut flower production: vegetative growth area, spiking area, and flowering area.
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Vegetative growth area: Virus free plants are potted in 15 cm (5”) pots with bark medium. The temperature is set at 29 to 31 C in day time 27 to 28 C in night time. The plants will stay in this area for 9 weeks before spiking. |
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Spiking area: After the vegetative growth, the plants are moved to the spiking area for spike induction at 19 to 23 C. The spiking period takes about 13 weeks before flowering. |
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Flowering area: After the spikes and buds are fully grown, the plants are moved into the flowering area at 19 to 25 C and humidity below 80 – 85 %. The flowering takes about 6 weeks for the flowers to bloom. When the flowers have enough blooms, the plants are moved to the cutting area for flower harvesting.
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After the flowers are harvested, the flowers are moved to the working area. The working area has a double-stories floor design for post-harvest treatment, pre-cooling and storage. All these processes carried out at a low temperature and are designed for extending cut flower vase life.
A testing room is also set up in the packing house. Various experiments are done such as effects of ethylene gas treatment, temperature fluctuation, and low temperature on vase life. The testing room is set at temperature 23 to 25 C, humidity 50 – 60 %, light intensity 1,000 – 2,000 lux, and with good air circulation. We also test the vase life of every shipment.
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