Grower roots
Born and raised under glass – and between crops, Arjen has been in Horticulture all his life. With 8 years of experience as a grower in the family nursery of Freesia, Spray Carnation, and various summer flowers, he understands the struggles and decisions that growers must make.

“Understanding the growers’ needs is key to find acceptance of new products in the market. It is too simple to think that growers will always test new products just because they know you, or because it is based on good data. Every grower has questions how this will work in their own greenhouse, on their variety and how change fits their current programs and methods. And we must answer this, as well as we can.”

“More importantly, we also don’t pretend we know it all, which is also not needed. We acknowledge our growers know best what they want, and how they want it. We must know how to deliver our services and support to the grower, and how to measure results. Then, and that’s with anything, the plants will show and tell.”

“Being able to support growers, being in the field and work together on plant health and increased yields, that’s what makes my day.”

Dutch office
From the CHV main office in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands, the team goes out to visit growers and convince them about our solutions. “It’s a pleasure to be back in Ornamentals and see the variety of flowers and pot plants. But it is equally nice to know that Croptimum also works for a wide range of soft fruits and vegetables”, Arjen says.

The CHV team is working hard to confirm the scientific data, which has been built the previous couple of years with commercial growers. Arjen is sure that Croptimum will become a standard in biostimulants, and growers will add it to their existing programs.

The root of growth is health
“Our CHV tagline – The root of growth is health – is a very strong one”, Arjen says. Croptimum improves the rhizosphere of the plants. With strong and healthy roots plants become more resilient and will take up nutrients better.

Croptimum works in the rhizosphere and in the plant, enhancing the plants ability to make optimum use of what the plant is offered in the growers’ program. With analysis in leaf tissue and fruit we show that more calcium is taken up by plants, but we also see an improvement of the uptake of other elements and a vitamin boost in the plant.