Tree nursery Damen
In 1974, Frans and José Damen founded Tree nursery Damen. Back then, it was still located in Wuustwezel. They started with open field cultivation. Five years later, after moving to Meer, the couple switched to growing plants and trees in pots. Today, son Patrick Damen focuses on growing a wide range of trees, ornamental shrubs and grasses, together with his team. Patrick Damen: ‘We like to keep the cultivation process in our own hands: own breeding, grafting, cutting; we try to do it ourselves as much as possible. This allows us to keep maximum control over the quality and exclusivity of our crops. There lies a strong focus for us. Partly for this reason, we switched completely to Growcoon in 2018.’
100% biodegradable
Natural microclimate
Unique fit
Choose your own substrate
‘Last year our Lonicera Nitida Elegant, 1.5 litre pots sold out quickly. Growcoon saves several weeks of time per cultivation cycle, allowing us to easily set up a second round. And that, of course, offers perspective!’
The Growcoon
‘Initially, we applied the Growcoon only in our ornamental shrub cultivation, focussed on the difficult-to-root species. Nowadays, we cultivate everything in a Growcoon. It offers many advantages. We easily earn back the extra cost and handling. What’s the difference? We experience gains in both growth and cultivation time. This is also noticeable with difficult-to-root species such as Pachysandra or Ilex; the plant roots better in Growcoon. As soon as the root touches the plug wall, it branches into as many as four or five new roots. A finely branched root system promotes growth. And the plant benefits enormously from this in the propagation phase. You can see that the crop thrives better. In addition, the Growcoon forms a stable root ball. A great advantage when transplanting.'
A stable root ball
‘Even if the cutting is not fully rooted yet, Growcoon binds the rootball, preventing it from falling apart, which offers many advantages not only during, but also after potting. For example: we have been potting Birch for a number of years; mechanically in P9 pots. The machine punches a hole to size, into which the plug is inserted. Without Growcoon a root ball often breaks. So then the hole is not completely filled and the plant roots in air. This causes a lot of failure. Thanks to the Growcoon, the hole is perfectly filled and the plant can grow unhindered. This ensures a uniform crop and significantly less failure.’
‘We place the Growcoons in the tray by hand. For this job I call my mother-in-law and mother. They are happy to do it and do it very accurately too! Nothing can beat that. But I think automation adds value for many growers. It gives the opportunity to scale up and, in that sense, offers a lot of potential.’
Transplant earlier
‘Thanks to Growcoon, we can transplant earlier. Our cutting hibernated in trays in our greenhouse. After which we transplanted in spring and sold the planting stock in August/September. Now, our unrooted cuttings are transplanted in March; placed in the Growcoon and propagation trays, potted up six weeks later and sold the same year in September.’
Sustainability
‘Whether the Growcoon has many sustainability advantages? What we notice is that, above all, we grow much more efficiently, which means we waste a lot less material. 30-40% less dropout, simply means 30-40% less waste. And because the plug comes out of the tray relatively clean, we often use the trays twice. That saves a lot of plastic waste, or chemicals to clean the trays. The Growcoon disappear after a while. As a result, we never get any complaints from customers. They don’t even notice that their plants have been grown in a Growcoon, except that the quality has improved. Because we can say that for sure.’
