The beauty of flowering plants is in the variety. You get all kinds of bloom depending on the time of the year, making the timing of planting crucial to the success of your endeavour. This is true for plants bearing fruit as well. It takes a combination of care and environmental conditions to ensure they grow healthily.
How then do horticulturists manage to grow plants all year round?
Greenhouse Gardening
The idea of a greenhouse where one can grow and care for plants despite changing temperatures outside is not new. It has helped the food service industry come up with solutions to seasonal problems. If you had ever wondered how your favourite restaurant manages to give you dishes calling for ingredients that are out of season, you have greenhouses to thank for that. Greenhouses themselves have to thank manufacturers of polycarbonate roofing, especially in the UK where the weather can be the absolute worst for rearing plants that cannot survive in extreme cold. As more horticulturists figured out the ideal setting for different kinds of plants, the industry all over has gained benefits in the form of increased customer patronage coupled with satisfaction and handsome sales figures.
Controlled Aspects
Some plants can grow anywhere and do not even need heaps of attention, but there are others, such as fresh wasabi, that is too exacting to grow. Truffles are another example, as it is impossible to just plant them anywhere while still preserving the quality. Chinese truffles may look the same, but they do not have the depth of flavour one expects when they know the dish contains truffles. Truffles and fresh wasabi both have high prices associated with them and that is because they demand so much from growers. A change in the temperature or water supply shortage may mean all effort going to waste and the grower not being able to harvest anything at all. Due to this, you will rarely see farmers cultivating wasabi for commercial use, and perhaps it is for the best, while farm owners where truffles grow are protective of their land and would go to great lengths to keep the quality of their harvest uncompromised.
Just Enough Nourishment
With the shift to healthy eating that is revolutionising the way everyone in the UK eats, there is much discussion about growing plants organically. On top of controlling the environment at which plants grow, farmers are also tasked with giving them just the right nourishment they need to produce tasty yield without needing chemicals to boost their growth or protect them from insects. You will find horticulturists using natural defences against pests, such as spices and other plants in place of pesticides. That is if they need to do anything at all, as growing plants in a greenhouse also keep most pests at bay. Rather than focus on chemical use, they enrich the soil and ensure that it is in the best condition, as it is where growth begins.
Any responsible plant grower knows the environment plays a huge part in the quality of yield they harvest. As it stands, their job is not just limited to planting; they also need to keep environmental factors in check.
