14th April 2026 - Marco van Noord
The lighting season is drawing to a close. The variable spring weather means some growers are continuing to use supplemental lighting for longer, but the increasing intensity of sunlight is making this less and less necessary. Attention is now shifting to irrigation: how much water to give, and is there sufficient water in reserve?
20 February 2026 - Wilbert van Oers
In the Netherlands, it is taken for granted: strawberries are propagated vegetatively, via cuttings. The system is familiar, proven, and deeply embedded in the practice of growers. But in many other countries, growing strawberries from seed is already perfectly normal
26 November 2025
Every year, the advisors of Horti-Consult International undertake a study trip. This year, the destination was Vietnam.
31 October 2025 - Ton van Kessel
Wind chill is an expression we will certainly hear in the media in the coming months. The phenomenon of wind chill, or wind cooling, is the phenomenon where it feels considerably colder in the wind than out of the wind. We can express the heat loss as a kind of perceived temperature value.
6 June 2025 - Gilbert Heijens
Greenhouse horticulture is constantly in motion. No day is the same, and every year we must quickly adapt to new situations. Recently, I mainly see developments in the areas of lighting, hygiene, and robotization.
9th October 2024 - Jan Verbaarschot & Erik Stappers
At the end of this year, Jan Verbaarschot is stepping down as a consultant at Horti-Consult International. Erik Stappers is new to the team. He will take over a number of Jan's clients.
16 October 2023 - Ton van Kessel
The Fachinformationstage (FIT) 2023 was held in Berlin from 26 to 28 September. Growers and managers from German, Austrian and Swiss glasshouse horticulture companies were invited to attend. This year’s event was attended by more than 50 horticulturalists.
30 March 2023 - Ton van Kessel
Regardless of where fruit and vegetables are grown in the world, light, humidity and plant temperature are the determining factors in successful cultivation, and these are expressed in the AH value.
10 January 2023 - Gilbert Heijens
The subject of energy has always been very important in cultivation. But the current high energy prices are forcing Horti-Consult advisors and growers to look even more closely at how they can continue quality growing with a lower energy consumption.
3 October 2022 - Wilbert van Oers
As a former grower of tomatoes and strawberries, I enjoy sharing my cultivation experience with the companies that I work with. I have now worked as a consultant at Horti-Consult International for 3 years. Before that, my wife and I had a tomato and strawberry growing company.
23 December 2021 - In the Netherlands, the first unlit tomato growers are starting production, and lit greenhouses are full, too. It would all seem quite normal, if not for the fact that many December plantings have been postponed and both lit and unlit growers have had to adjust their entire crop planning due to the energy crisis.
23 November 2021 - The Horti-Consult International cultivation advisory team has made it a tradition to travel internationally once a year. At the beginning of this month, they visited Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia. Below, you will find a big part of their trip report.
3 November 2021 - Gilbert Heijens
"Many plantings have been postponed," cultivation adviser Gilbert Heijens observes for the Dutch and Belgian market. He supports national and international growers of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, aubergines, and courgettes, and organic growers. "Most shifts will take place in the December tomato plantings. As for peppers, I think the early plantings are holding out reasonably well, while for cucumbers, there are growers who are postponing the start of their crop to sometimes even April. Therefore, some growers will start with larger plants."
24 February 2021 - Ton van Kessel
Last weekend the temperature in Netherlands rose to +15 degrees Celsius. A week before, it was -15 degrees Celsius. They went from winter to (almost) spring in just a couple of days. This means that growers were busy keeping their greenhouse climate at the right level and had to stay alert for the week that was coming. We spoke with Ton van Kessel when he visited one of his growers the Thursday before the weekend with spring temperatures. "Problems with humidity might arise," warns Van Kessel.
