46 www.FloraCultureInternational.com | January 2013 Automation Jonge Planten Grünewald in The Netherlands produces about 55 million plant plugs annually for Grünewald Group customers all over Europe. All the plugs are Ellepots and are made by one of the two Ellegaard substrate pot machines that have successfully operated in ’s-Gravenzande since 1999. Grunewald set an absolute record by producting 450 million Ellepots over the years. by Harmen Kamminga 4,4 cm for a 66 hole tray. Recently, this machine was adapted for pro- duction of 3,5 cm pots in 84 hole trays. It required a minor invest- ment when compared to the ben- efits. e result is an ‘old’ machine which was completely rejuvenated allowing Grunewald to produce pots in smaller sizes. e machine looks brand new and is ready to serve for the coming decades. “Demand for the really big plugs was dwindling,” explains general manager Boers. “At this point in time, the machine that makes the smaller pots still covers 70 to 80% of the total production, but we estimate that with the upgraded machine, production will eventu- ally split fifty-fifty.” For storage and transport Grünewald utilises Ellepot Propagation Trays, but according to Boers other trays developed for the Ellepot fit the machine perfectly well and are currently also in use. varieties from Grünewald’s own innovative breeding programmes. “Since we started out as a young plant supplier, Grünewald has always been in close contact with its clients. Knowing our customers’ wishes and demands enables us to tailor our breeding exactly to their wishes,” He added, “And of course we also adapt our breeding ac- cording to how we envision future demand to look like.” Paper plugs All the paper plugs needed for the Dutch and German produc- tion facilities, about 50 to 55 million per annum, are produced at Jonge Planten Grünewald in ´s-Gravenzande. Here, Grünewald installed two Ellegaard substrate pot machines in 1999. One makes Ellepots with a diameter of 2,8 cm which are automatically placed in trays with 128 holes. e other originally made bigger pots of G rünewald Group is an internationally active enterprise, specialising in breeding, production and sales of unrooted and rooted cuttings, lin- ers of bedding and balcony plants, perennials, ornamental grasses, structural plants and herbs. e company started in Germany more than seventy years ago. Today, pro- duction is based in Germany, e Netherlands, France and Kenya. Grünewald products can now be found throughout Europe, e Middle East, Russia, Taiwan and North America. “Reliable product quality and long lasting partnerships are the key factor to Grünewald’s success,” states Nico Boers, manager at Jonge Planten Grünewald at ’s Graven- zande, the Netherlands. “Many of our customers have been with us for ten or fifteen years, some even longer.” Innovative breeding Originally a supplier mainly of Chrysanthemum cuttings, Grünewald was among the first in Europe to specialise in the produc- tion of cuttings for bedding plants some forty-five years ago. Boers recalls, “Back then most bedding plants were still seed propagated.” Because of the serious benefits for growers and consumers alike, bed- ding plants from cuttings proved to be a hit and the Grünewald com- panies experienced rapid growth. According to Boers, the enterprise is still expanding its businesses today. e new millennium saw a growing number of sales of very successful Reliable quality links Grünewald to the Ellepot System NGL machine Grünewald’s Sjaak is highly satisfied with the performance of the Ellepot system.