A Greenhouse in Iceland

Iceland doesn’t exactly have a fantastic growing season. Much of their produce is grown in greenhouses. Primarily, they grow tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumber – three items that appeared at nearly every meal we ate. The greenhouse we toured grew flowers.

They told us the name, but my recording is so garbled I couldn’t tell you what it is. They specialize in bouquets. This means they grow a wide variety of flowers which are delivered to many outlets in Selfos such as super markets, and florists. Not Costco, which wanted the flowers for next to nothing and makes buyers buy a cheep vase for lots of money too.

They use geothermal power by piping groundwater through a set of iron pipes. In the winter the water in the pipes gets boiling hot. It’s a closed system that returns to the well over and over.

In 1948, when the owner’s grandfather arrived in the area, there was a geyser that caused nothing but trouble for them. They earned the rights to the land while working at someone else’s greenhouse. At first it was only tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, and grapes. In 1977 the owner’s parents became partners and introduced cut flowers.

They don’t grow tulips in the greenhouses because they must be cooled for 14 weeks, then will be brought into a small greenhouse for only four weeks to bloom. They grow lilies, daisies, roses, chrysanthemums, etc. On weekdays they pick all the flowers. On Sunday, only roses.

Every year he goes to Holland to the contentions. When he tells them he has 0.6 hectares, they lose interest. Yet they are by far the largest flower growing operation in Iceland. Everything comes from Holland – from plants to pipes to lights.

The flowers are all grown in pots. Each gets 3 minutes of water every hours. Fertilizer is mixed into the water. Pesticides are used in the mums, but in everything else they use biological solutions. For instance, against mildew he might use a combination of watering and pruning and some soap spray. No herbicides or pesticides.

The biological solutions might include introducing insects that will kill pests. He tries to keep an even system, but sometimes has to add one. The introduced insects might eat ones they want as well as those they don’t. They get them from Holland.

He had 2 years for training in horticulture. Everything is computerized to check humidity, light, etc. They can compare with conditions from ten years ago. He does the primary analysis, but calls in consultants from Holland and Norway a few times a year.

He pays 2.3 million Icelandic dollars per month for electricity. It comes out to 10 cents per watt.

Healthy plants can last as long as five years. Some varieties have too many problems and can’t be replaced. Some are lost to pests.

Roses are the most popular flower with over 50% of the market. They are expensive to start, labor intensive, take a lot of fertilizer and light, and vulnerable to pests. They must be picked every day because they open too quickly, and leaves buyers disappointed, yet still everyone buys them.

The smell was bred out because they are sold by how they look rather than how they smell. The first year the growers throw out 99% of the roses due to low quality. The smell takes energy from the rose making it not look as good. Garden roses are another matter because people don’t buy them only for their looks. He bends down the tops to build up the plants. This helps conserve the energy of the plants.

He has 11 employees. His children help in the summer time as they learn the ropes. Sometimes he takes his wife and kids for vacation while his parents run the place. They only all got away once.

His favorite is the astromilia, aka Peruvian Lilly. It’s good for 25 years. It takes less light, and only needs watering once a week. It’s easy to grow, pick, and handle. It’s roots go in circles until it becomes too dense then it divides itself.

Keep the bouquets nice by adding 7up or Sprite or a copper penny in the water to keep the water clean and feed the flowers. To refresh, take the flowers out of the vase, clean the vase, THEN cut the bottoms of the flowers and put them quickly back in the vase along with a bit of sugar. Without sugar they lose color. The more you cut, the better to get rid of air in the veins. Cold water is better than warm. To dye the flowers, leave them cut on the table for one hour then put them in the dye. They are so thirsty they color in an hour.

The build the bouquets on premises then store them in a cool, dark room until ready to ship. Shipments are nearly daily. Their bouquets are quite impressive.