Blaw Flowers | reduce production costs and generate a higher quality orchid

Blaw Flowers, located in Hidalgo, Mexico, is a company with more than fifteen years of experience in growing crops in high-tech greenhouses. On two acres they are currently producing orchids of the highest quality in Mexico and Latin America. You might think this is a small greenhouse, but the element of surprise is actually in their used technologies.

Comparing to other Mexican orchid growers, Blaw Flowers has their greenhouse equipped with modern tools, such as floor heating, CO2, humidity and shade control and automated drip irrigation. This makes it possible for them to grow a high quality orchid compared to other growers in their country.

In July 2019, Blaw Flowers decided to choose for the latest technology from Hoogendoorn Growth Management. They contributed to our field tests and invested in our new IIVO. Their goals were to reduce their production costs and to generate an even higher quality orchid. Blaw Flowers is our first customer in Mexico that incorporated the IIVO and with success.

Blaw Flowers is not without reason one of the customers selected as a potential test case. This has to do with the fact that they grow orchids. Arturo X. Tellez Hernandez, our Sales Manager in this region, explains: "A high quality orchid is very difficult to grow. Many plants can adapt well to different circumstances, but the orchid is different. Every different variety needs a different optimal climate in order to grow well. For example, there is a lot of difference in the right temperature, humidity and light per variety. An optimal control of the crop is therefore necessary to be able to grow a high quality orchid. The new IIVO fits in well with Blaw Flowers because the IIVO can be used to control the crop even more accurately, but also because data can be used to make the plant's response to certain cultivation recipes clear".

We asked the Head Grower of Blaw Flowers which features of the IIVO system helped them the most. He answered: “The loading speed of the interface and the possibility of performing multiple tasks at the same time, have been key factor to have an optimal crop control. Based on the new irrigation interface, the crop has had a better water balance. That resulted in a stronger crop”.

Also the IIVO Remote has given Blaw Flowers multiple advantages, they indicate: “One of the most important benefits that the IIVO system has given us, is the possibility of monitoring our greenhouse in real-time from any mobile device, anywhere in the world. It is now longer necessary to physically be present in the greenhouse to make changes to the influences. Also the system is very easy to operate and the design of the graphics make it easy to understand the dashboard”.

Blaw Flowers also commented on the ease of setting the VIP’s. VIP stands for Variable Influence Period. A VIP is a setting you can configure in the system. There are endless possibilities in settings and growing strategy thanks to the VIP settings. With a VIP one can set different periods during a day, for example, to determine the temperature or RH at which the windows should open automatically to a certain position per period of time.

A VIP can be applied to all aspects in the greenhouse like the windows, the lighting, the screens and many more. The VIP is a feature Hoogendoorn Growth Management is well known of, because it has been integrated already in our iSii and now also in our new IIVO, but with a more ease of use.