UNSEASONABLY warm weather in the southeast has seen commercial flower growers walking a fine line better production and poorer quality.
Jatinder Nijjar manages two Redlands farms for his family, as well as properties at Rochedale and Toowoomba, a wholesale outlet at Brisbane’s Rocklea markets and a Redlands retail outlet.
Ordinarily production slowed in winter, so warmer cold season and spring conditions helped boost growth.
Mr Nijjar, who grows most stock under cover, said growing flowers was a constant balancing act.
“In the heat they are pumping but we paint the roofs of greenhouses to create shade and reflect UV rays back,’’ he said. “We’re only getting the light coming through that is needed. I’ve seen the paint drop temperatures by 7C.’’
Mr Nijjar said as showers started, paddock-grown flowers, especially roses, were also prone to diseases like downy mildew.
Flower farmers have started a campaign to promote their products, announcing the inaugural Australian Flowers Week to run from from September 17 to 25.
The week is designed to celebrate everything about flowers, from the beauty and diversity of blooms, to the stunning designs by florists.
It will be launched at the Flower Ball in Sydney at Darling Harbour on Saturday by Deputy Agriculture Minister Senator Anne Ruston who also owns Ruston’s Roses in South Australia.
The industry, which is worth $500 million at the farm gate, is challenging imports which run at 120 million stems a year which is about 10 per cent of the domestic market.
A Flower Association spokesman said imports had risen more than 10-fold over the past five years from countries like Kenya, India, Colombia, Singapore, Thailand and South Africa.
The Redlands district east of Brisbane has long grown flowers although farming is no longer a major local industry because of the loss of rural land for residential housing.
Mr Nijjar’s father Dave started the business in 1991 after moving to Queensland from northern NSW. Having grown bananas and passion fruit, he easily made the transition into flowers and strawberries.
Mr Nijjar said almost everything was grown under cover as a hydroponic crop.
The move from traditional field flowers to hydroponics was made because over time soils broke down and did not hold nutritional value unless substantial organic matter was put back.
The family farms had used sugarcane mill mud which grew excellent flowers but this could no longer be obtained, forcing the move to hydroponics. All water from the operation was returned to dams, meaning a self-sufficient operation with little waste.
Mr Nijjar said the biggest issue with growing flowers was keeping on top of disease and growing under cover helped control that as well as helping maintain a top quality product.
“We’re not spraying as much we do with the outdoor stuff although you have to keep a close eye on things like your Ph and fertiliser levels in the water as well as disease monitoring,’’ he said.
The business employs 30 staff and cuts roses seven days a week and gerberas on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, making for an almost non-stop operation and taking a good bite out of Queensland’s $180 million a year cut flower and foilage production revenue.
“It keeps us busy, that’s for sure,’’ Mr Nijjar said.
The business also grows greenery and a small range of other flower lines as well as strawberries but Mr Nijjar said he would move out of the fruit due to low prices.
With his father having retired, Mr Nijjar runs the business with brother Lakh while his wife Mandeep runs the Rocklea wholesale outlet.
The Agriculture Department says there are more than 180 growers throughout the state although the industry extends much further than that, with almost 900 flower farmers and about 2000 florists and retailers across the nation.
Queensland is Australia’s third largest flower growing state and the market is expanding. Most growers are clustered around larger population centres like Cairns, Bundaberg, the Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and greater Brisbane area.
Queensland’s size and climate variations from temperate to tropical means it can produce a larger variety, ranging from roses and gerbera to orchids and tropical natives.
The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers starts Friday, with 124,000 blooms set to blossom.
