'Lily cultivation requires a multidisciplinary approach'

Added on 05 March 2025

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'Lily cultivation requires a multidisciplinary approach'

Photo: WUR

What will lily cultivation look like in 2030? Wageningen University & Research BU Greenhouse Horticulture is investigating in the Greenhouse2030 whether sustainable, fossil-free, emission-free lily flower production is possible in the winter. Researcher Paul Ruigrok: “It is a great collaboration between different research disciplines and growers: cultivation, biology and technology.”

The Greenhouse2030 is located at the Bleiswijk research location of WUR and aims to limit the emission of CO2, water, nutrients and crop protection products and ultimately reduce them to 0. To this end, WUR is investigating, among other things, whether combination cultivation is possible, or: a different crop in the winter than in the summer. An example of this is the combination of melon (in the summer) and lily (in the winter). On September 23, 2023, lily bulbs of 5 varieties were planted, followed by a rooting phase in the cold store. On October 8, the lilies were placed in the greenhouse. The different varieties will be harvested from the end of November to mid December. The next cultivation round will follow in early January, until mid-March.