A cucumber grower running out of cucumbers in the middle of the season is a sign that something has gone wrong. Unfortunately, Willem Derynck and his father, Danny Derynck, found themselves in this situation due to a problem with their substrate. At their farm in Ardooie, Belgium, a tough decision had to be made: all the plants and the substrate mats were removed from the greenhouse. Fortunately, the growers are now back in production.
"Our knives are sharpened, and our appetite is stronger than ever," Willem shared on July 20, as he held the first cucumber in his hands again. By that point, they had been without production in Ardooie for just under a month.
Crooked and pointy
"The roots didn't take well to our perlite substrate this year," Willem explained. This was confirmed by their cultivation consultant and an agricultural expert who were called in. "We grow the variety Prologue, which always roots hard. Soon, the roots grew around the substrate instead of into it. This left us with no buffer and prevented the plant from growing properly. The first four cucumbers were fine, but after that, the rest were crooked and pointed."
Until then, they had been successfully growing on perlite for years in Ardooie. However, a difficult decision had to be made. "We could have continued growing and started watering heavily, but that would have risked destroying the roots."
Organic substrate
In search of a quick solution, the growers switched to a different substrate from a different supplier. "Within one week, we decided everything. The plant grower quickly re-seeded, and we ordered new mats."
Given the circumstances, they chose Greenfibre substrate from Klasmann-Deilmann. The plants were doing well on the organic substrate by mid-August. "The substrate is fairly vegetative, so we are already seeing gains in the number of units we harvest and also in watering efficiency."
Late planting date
Because of the late planting date, the cucumber crop grew quickly immediately after planting, though still slower than if planted before May, Willem noted. Normally, in Ardooie, they grow cucumbers continuously from April to November in the 8,000 m² greenhouse, much of which is dedicated to cucumber, in addition to parsley and string beans. "The crop grew a little slower, but we were still able to harvest cucumbers three weeks after planting."
When we called Willem on Wednesday afternoon, he was listening to a podcast about caravans. "That's a very different business from greenhouse farming," noted the relieved grower. "We work with living matter. Growing plants is really different from caravans. Fortunately, our sector is very dynamic, and we can switch quickly. We are very happy with the quick delivery and flexibility from our suppliers."
Good prices
With cucumber cultivation temporarily suspended, the company missed out on just under a month of production. By possibly continuing with the current cucumber crop a little longer, Willem expects to be able to compensate for some of the loss. "Had we still had the old plants now, we might have had to take the car to the auction because we would have had very little production."
Good cucumber prices in mid-August are also satisfying. "The fact that prices are good now is a bonus. As a grower, only one thing is in your control, and that is cost price and quantity. What the market does is uncertain."
Company takeover
It was cucumbers that really sparked Willem's interest in the growing business. "That's also why it's so important to me that we quickly got back into production," he said.
Next year, he plans to take over his parents' business. The temporary disruption in cucumber production did not affect this plan. "A takeover is like a pregnancy. There is a set number of months for that process. We have been working on the takeover for a while."
From this year's problem, Willem, who clearly has a passion for the trade, learned once again. "I've seen again that growing doesn't happen automatically. By making quick decisions, we were able to make up for a lot. Sometimes you have to make hard decisions. Hopefully, cucumber prices will stay good for now."