Field nursery

Weed
In the winter there will be an estimation of when the tulips will start to get above the ground. Just before this happens, different plant protection products are used to prevent weed from growing.

After the tulips have blossomed, there will be another inspection and, if neccesary, the tulips will be sprayed again to kill the weed.

Fertilizing
Before the planting is done, soil samples are taken from each individual field. All these samples are analyzed and the fertilization will be optimized for each field according to these samples. At the beggining of April, this will be repeated and, if neccesary, a field will get some more fertilizer to make the bulbs grow optimaly. 

Virus
For each individual cultivar is determined what the optimal time is to scan them for viruses it. This is called "selection". Selection is removing the affected tulips either by walking through the field or by walking through it. This is very labour intensive work, but a necessity to meet the requirements to pass a legal inspection.

When the tulips are above ground, which is in the spring, they get sprayed each week with pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Pesticides will kill lice, which can spread a virus. Fungicides will kill for example botrytis, which is a dangerous mold, especially for tulips. 

Cutting of the flowers
If the tulips are at the final stage of blooming, the cutting of the heads will begin. 98% of the heads are cut by a machine, the rest is done by hand.

Irrigation
It is important that the tulips always have enough moisture to keep growing optimally. By using in-field weather stations and sensors, this is always measured and based on the results of that, the tulips are irrigated or not.