Time is running out for flower bulb growers: “Even if it only stays dry for a week”

Although every year has its own dynamics and peculiarities, tulip grower Niels Kreuk from Andijk dares to say that anyone who waits any longer before planting bulbs starts to run considerable risks. “The past has shown that if you plant after December 15, it will cost you yield.”

Soil unsuitable for planting

While that date is still a month away, the state of the country doesn’t offer much hope right now. “You see, it’s just really wet,” says Kreuk, holding a lump of soil from the plot in his hands. “The ground just shines.”

Anyone who puts bulbs in the ground will most likely come home from a rude awakening. “The question is whether it will work at all,” Kreuk explains. “You have to move quite a bit of soil. And if you don’t do that properly, the bulbs will not be neatly buried in the ground. Then you will get damaged again. And the chance of frost damage is also greater.”

What the growers need is a week, preferably two weeks of drought. The multi-day forecast offers no hope in that regard: a lot of rain is also predicted for the coming weeks.

“It is always the case that the country sometimes seems to be drying up a little bit,” Kreuk says with slight frustration in his voice. “But then it fills up again. It makes you restless. You then have to accept it again. You also have to get a little older for that, so fortunately things are better now than twenty years ago.”