Environmentally
Friendly
There do arise
situations in the
greenhouse where pests
can cause damage beyond
control of the
biological population.
Certainly, in the hot
summer season pest
populations thrive and
become very hard to keep
from harming the crops.
Then, and only then, do
the growers need the
assistance of chemicals
to get the pest
populations reduced to a
point where biological
predators can continue
the control. Only
chemicals that have been
registered, regulated
and approved by the
government are applied.
Chemicals used properly
in the greenhouses are
considered legal and
safe to humans. In
addition, growers in the
nursery are required to
have a pesticide
certificate to apply
chemicals. This
certificate is issued by
the government upon
completion of an intense
course on chemicals and
their proper use.
Many new chemicals used
for growing are
naturally occurring
products in the
environment. For
example, some controls
used are in: a garlic
base product, a neem
based product, which
come from a neem tree in
Asia, a sulphur based
product and a
seaweed-based product.
Many of the harsh,
broad-spectrum
insecticides are not
used to grow the crops
because of the harm they
cause to the
environment.
Another method of
keeping the environment
clean is reduced usage
of synthetic fertilizers
by applying a large
amount of naturally
occurring fertilizers
such as manure and
compost. When the
flowers are harvested
and brought to the
grading room the 'green
manure', which consists
of leaves and stems
which are unusable for
sale, are mulched and
composted and reused in
the nursery for the
fertilizer requirements
of the crop.
Also, improvements in
cultural practices such
as growing
hydroponically in
containers or buckets,
aid in the relief of the
concern for the
environment. This
growing method allows
the grower to control
the amount of fertilizer
each plant receives and
thus helps to reduce
excess fertilizer from
running into the ground.
Prior to hydroponic
growing, large amounts
of excess fertilizer
were needed to grow the
crop in the ground or
soil. In the near future
the grower will be
collecting the excess
water run-off from the
crop, and reusing it to
reduce and possibly
eliminate fertilizer
from running into the
ground.
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