Netherlands greenhouse farms that can produce dozen of millions of cucumbers every year. These farms use modern methods like vertical farming and soilless cultivation as well as carefully selecting the best varieties to grow larger cucumbers. The production of cucumbers in the Netherlands was 1.2 million tons in 2021. You’ll see a modern process of cucumber farming in this lovely country. Here modern machines and equipments are used to support the entire process from harvesting to sorting and packaging. Today we’ve explored the process of growing cucumbers in a greenhouse together. We have it all captured in this video. Now, let’s discover! And the first part is growing cucumber seedlings. The seeds will be planted without using soil. Most modern greenhouses prepare their own seedlings later on. After the seedlings have grown enough to move on to the next stage.
The seedlings are then brought to the main planting area, which is very large and you might even need a bicycle to move around. Up to three cucumber crops can be grown in a year, with around half a million plants. This scale is very large in a country with cold winter like the Netherlands. The cucumber plants are grown on biological fiber mats which could be coconut fiber mats if you remember in our previous video and a direct water pumping system into the roots of the plants. The water will also contain nutrients to feed the plants. Now we come to the carrying stage. A cucumber plant grows upwards along a rope. This rope hangs on the crop wire at the top of the greenhouse. In order to ensure that the plant grows upwards properly, the rope should always be turned around the plants, and you should also lower the plant.
This tightening starts immediately after the securing and continues until the plant has grown all the way to the crop wire. Besides tightening, some growers can also use clipping technique. This is done in particular in high wire cultivation. The plants have started flowering and producing fruits. It takes about 3-4 weeks from the time of planting until you can harvest the first cucumbers. Each plant can have dozens of fruits. By this time, the roots have grown tightly around the biological fiber mats. Here they use LED lights to help the plants grow better at night. This method has produced certain and good results, with up to 4 harvests per year.
Finally, the moment we’ve been waiting for has come. Now we can harvest the big and long cucumbers. The cucumbers have reached the perfect age and color and they’re about 35 to 40 centimeters long, ready to be picked. Harvesting is mostly done by hand, using a knife to cut the stem. Let’s take a minute to see the harvesting process in action. So. After that, the cucumbers are taken to the sorting and packaging area. Here we can see modern conveyor belts in action. The sorting is done by robotic arms.
But quality control still requires a human touch. You. Finally, the end of the season means it’s time to clean up and prepare for the next one. All the plants from the previous season are removed, and new plants are planted the very next days. The greenhouse roof is also cleaned to ensure that the plants get optimal sunlight. Cucumber is a popular fruit that’s enjoyed by many around the world.
In 2020, the estimated total world production was 91.3 million tons. China was by far the largest producer, accounting for 79% of global production. The Netherlands was the fourth largest producer of cucumbers in Europe, after Spain, Turkey and Poland.
