Shades Horticulture Limited; Growing Supreme Roses biologically

As the modern day farming continues to grow exponentially, most growers have adopted vermiculture farming for not only cutting down the cost of fertilizer, but also for boosting the health of plants and to enhance soil fertility.

One farm that has intensively invested in this organic farming is Shades Horticulture Limited located in Kisaju, Kajiado County; 52Km from Nairobi. It sits on a 20 hectares piece of land of which 15 hectares are on production of 12 varieties of roses. Vermi-culture is the process of composting using earthworms. Ultimately, all organic material naturally goes through the decomposition process; however with vermiculture the process is significantly accelerated. According to Ashutosh Mishra CEO of SHL, the process takes 4 to 6 weeks. The worms degrade the organic matter and the liquid manure tapped from the system is referred to as vermi-liquid while the composting manure is called vermi compost.

The vermi-liquid is mixed in their fertigation system and irrigated to their roses through drip system. It contains water-soluble nutrients, rich in organic fertilizer and soil conditioner in a form that is relatively easy for plants to absorb. This is due to the fact that worms grind and uniformly mix minerals into simple forms so that plants only need minimal effort to obtain them. The worms’ digestive systems create an environment that allows certain species of microbes to thrive.

Vermi-composting has gained popularity in both large and small scale farming, as compared with conventional composting since it provides a way to decompose organic wastes more quickly. The fact that vermiliquid can be applied to the crop using drip pipes is also a major factor. The earthworms mostly used are red wigglers; they are  highly recommended, as they have high appetite and breed very quickly.

“All the wastes in form of green materials from the greenhouses and those from the grading hall after defoliating roses are all collected and taken to our composting site. In a special container or bed covered with plastic lining and has a provision for tapping; a first layer of green waste materials is laid down, some soil added on top and the worms put on top. This is repeated to the top and covered with soil. Fresh water is sprinkled on top from time to time to maintain high moisture level. As the worms degrade the green materials, they multiply in population and size. Water flushed into the pit and tapped during fourth to sixth week comes out as Vermi-Liquid. This solution contains water soluble nutrients and is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner” Mishra elaborated.

After the 6 week period of decomposition, the worms are separated from the compost and put in another pit for compositing, while the vermi-compost which is usually dark in colour is used for planting roses and trees as windbreakers.

“This form of compositing has been really helpful as we are able to reduce the cost of fertilizer by 50 percent,” he mentioned.

The farm also observes an integrated pest and diseases control (IPM) program where they use biological origin pesticides and effective microorganism solutions to tackle most pest and disease problems.

“Clean and good supply of water is important in flower production; we harvest all rain water from greenhouses rooftops and we have borehole water. We have invested in a reverse osmosis system where all the water from the boreholes is purified before being used, since water in this region is salty,” Mishra said.

By using many biological practices in growing, the farm has supreme quality of T-hybrid roses for the international market.