At the Mexican Expo AgroAlimentaria, FiberDust's Sam Ahilan was present with Lars Peter Jensen from Blackmore. They welcomed the mayor of Irapuato to informa them about coir and Ellepots
“A grower's chance of success depends on more than just our machine or our paper,” said Lars Peter Jensen, from the Blackmore Company who distributes exclusively for Ellegaard in North America, Mexico, Costa Rica and the Caribbean isles. “It's also about the different mixes of substrate, so when combining all these things, we try to find what works best for our customers.” Ellegaard manufactures machines to make Ellepots; the well known propagation plugs that makes it easier for growers to successfully propagate young plants. Ellepots require an initial investment in a machine and the continued purchase of paper for the machine, but, as Jensen pointed out, the success a grower will have also depends on what kind of growing media his plants are grown in.
“The biggest potential going forward is that we start working with the soil mixes,” said Jensen. “Because, at the end of the day, Ellepot is basically just paper around growing media, and if the media is no good, then the Ellepot is no good.” To that end, Ellegaard has worked with FiberDust, a provider of growing media made from coconut husks, to find the best growing inputs for a variety of growers. Previously Fiberdust and the Hawita group in Germany also teamed with Elegaard in order to work toward getting the best mixes for the customers. "In order to ensure top performance - working with the right mix in the Ellepots ensures top quality plants every time", said Jensen.
The Ellepot machinery further ensures that it is very easy for the growers to change mix if the growers want to use specific mixes for the various plant products. Using the right mix in the Ellepot can help shorten the grow time and through this making it less expensive than loose filled trays due to low electrical usage and added to the lower labour costs needed to transplant either in the greenhouse or in the fields.
FiberDust's Sam Ahilan explained that the partnership is ideal because it gives both companies the ability to better serve their mutual clients while avoiding the pitfalls of an exclusivity agreement.
“It's a good relationship,” said Ahilan, “because we have products that complement each other well, so the market is big for both of us and we can better serve our clients.” With grafting becoming more prevalent in upcoming markets such as Mexico, Ellegaard and FiberDust are focusing their synergistic efforts in North America for now, but both see the value of the partnership beyond the region.
“Ellepot has one of the best track records in this field,” said Ahilan. “And we're just trying to make it better.”
For more information:
FibreDust LLC
Sam Ahilan
product.manager@fiberdust.com
www.fiberdust.com
The Blackmore Company
Lars Peter Jensen
lpj@blackmoreco.com
www.blackmoreco.com