“Last year, we were not able to control the thrips in the roses. Since the end of 2019, we have been working with a biological approach; we spread montdorensis predatory mites with Powerfood feeding mites. With the Bio Spreader of Royal Brinkman, the thrip control is going well now. In 2020, we did not have to correct against thrips chemically until week 36.”

Bas Koene, rose grower in De Lier, the Netherlands: "Thrips in roses causes visible damage to the flower bud. Spots appear on the leaves, the flower becomes damaged and has no longer the highest quality". Bas Koene indicates that they did not succeed to control the thrips in the past. In addition to the use of predatory mites, chemical controls were necessary. "We had to correct with chemicals too often and even that was insufficient. Besides, the growth was reduced and we wanted to get rid of it.”

​​​​- Bas Koene, rose grower SK Roses in De Lier, the Netherlands​​​

At the end of 2019, nursery SK Roses stopped with chemicals and adopted a new biological approach to control the thrips. Kees Kouwenhoven, specialist crop protection at Royal Brinkman, supervised the new approach. "The predatory mite montdorensis in combination with a supplementary feeding strategy with Powerfood, is a strong biological controller of thrips. Supplementary feeding of the predatory mite creates a strong population of montdorensis in the rose crop." At SK Roses, manual spreading of montdorensis and Powerfood started at the end of 2019. The approach struck immediately; predatory mites could be found throughout the crop. Bas Koene indicates that manual spreading of montdorensis and Powerfood went well, but was labor-intensive, which is why they have been following Royal Brinkman's development of the Bio Spreader closely.

For the optimal distribution of predatory mites and Powerfood, in recent years, Royal Brinkman has developed several bio-distribution systems in collaboration with supplier Pullens Mechanical Techniques. Spreaders attached to a spraying robot or monorail system, which distributed uniform predatory mites, were already in place. However, in the cultivation of roses, the aim was to be able to spread predatory mites uniformly and over a wide area.

Michael Visser, specialist mechanical equipment at Royal Brinkman: "There are two spreaders on the UniMite Air Bio Spreader. One blows 5 meters to the left and the other 5 meters to the right, allowing a maximum spreading width of 10 meters. The transparent storage bunkers enables to see the stock of the biological material. The smart invention is the conveyor belt of the biological material in the storage bunker. The conveyor system ensures that the Bio Spreader always spreads the same amount of predatory mites and feeding mites evenly.”

​​​​- Nick Groenewoud, specialist gaas en vepakkingen Royal Brinkman​​​

SK Roses now has six months of experience with the Bio Spreader. Bas Koene indicates that the labor savings are great: "The Bio Spreader only has to travel back and forth an 8-meter grid once in order to achieve a good distribution of predatory mites. The device is easy to operate; refilling the storage bunkers and controlling the remote can be accomplished by one person. The most important result is that the thrips control succeeded.” 
Kees Kouwenhoven: “Blowing the Powerfood at SK Roses takes place weekly, the predatory mite montdorensis is mixed every second week and blown at the same time. We scout the presence of predatory mites in the crop and it does not matter where we walk; at the front or in the back of the cap, in the middle or on the side of the bar, we encounter predatory mites everywhere.”

The improvement of the biological control with montdorensis and Powerfood with the Bio Spreader is great at SK Roses. "With strong thrip control, we can deliver high quality roses year-round.”

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