The soil and the climate in the Northern Sand district are ideal for growing healthy bulbs. It takes several years to grow commercial-sized hyacinths, tulips, crocuses, daffodils and lilies.
Our bulbs are grown using the most up-to-date techniques, to guarantee bulbs of a consistent high quality. How do we do this? Just take a look..

Planting

Hyacinths need plenty of space to grow. So the number planted in a given area is regulated by a computer-controlled machine. The gardeners on the back of the machine set the bulbs upright.
the hyacinths

     in March 2007
click for more planting pictures

Growing


To be able to deliver bulbs with good inner quality, we have to deliver their food in a very accurate way.

For this job we use a special pneumatic spreader machine, which blows the fertilizer to the end of the pipes where it is spread through a cap evenly over the field.




The machine gives big adventages in uniformat dosing oposed to the common disc spreaders. In the pictures you can clearly see the fertilizer flying through the air, evenly spreading over the fields.

Keeping watch


We constantly check to prevent diseases and remove substandard bulbs. We also keep an eye on our cultivars, to make sure they match our high standard.

Removing the flowers

For a bulb-grower, the main aim is to get
a large, healthy bulb. So, in spring after a thorough inspection, the flowers are removed from the tulip plants. With the flowers removed, all the nutrients go into the bulb.
All the hyacinths destined for the early preparation are harvested within a couple of days. This ensures that the bulbs will flower on time for the clients who count on us.

Digging up

To make sure that the bulbs are harvested and transferred to the processing area as quickly as possible, this operation is highly automated.
Inside

Peeling

When possible, modern machinery is used for peeling the bulbs as well. The tulips are cleaned, peeled, sorted, selected and counted in a single operation, followed by immediate storage in the processing rooms.

Preparation

In these special conditioned rooms, the bulbs are temperature-treated, so that the customer can produce a cut flower or pot-plant at exactly the required moment. Both temperature and the humidity are carefully controlled as well as the fresh air which is continually circulated using computer-controlled equipment.

After dispatch, we are always pleased to give further advice.

Breeding

Nord Lommerse does a lot of work improving bulb varieties. The search for improvements to the existing range is a never-ending job. Obviously we want the bulbs to produce beautiful and unusual flowers, but we also place a lot of emphasis on creating disease-resistant strains.
Improving bulb varieties calls for great patience and an ability to predict the outcome of a particular modification. Four or five years after sowing a new tulip variety can be judged, because that is how long it takes for the plants to mature. If the new strain looks promising, further development takes place.
Because customers are often very interested to see our latest varieties, we exhibit them at shows.