Perennials & Grasses | 2023

4. VITROFLORA | Perennials & Grasses 2023 EN | Dear Friends Gardeners! It is 45 years since Vitroflora - a polish horticulture company was founded. On this occasion, let me mention a few milestones in the company’s history. In 1977 with my wife Anna we started building the first greenhouses and our daughter Agnieszka was born. In 1982 the tissue culture lab was fully operational and our son Konrad was born. We have started exporting young plants and using the name Vitroflora. In 1990 Europlant company was established, our son Filip was born and Tomasz Michalik joined the company. I have mentioned these dates, and above all the people who today are leading our company, and with the generation switching are responsible for its further development. Some of our seven grandchildren are also already showing an interest in horticulture. As the fourth generation of horticulturists, I have been following the development of our industry for over 50 years. From all socialist countries, only in Poland farms stayed kept private. Following Poland’s accession to the European Union, it was possible to compete in a wider market. Unfortunately, only a few have succeeded. The world is changing fast but the horticultural industry seems to be changing even faster. In the past, horticulture mainly consisted of small family farms, today we often do not realize that it is one of the most globalized industries in the world. Today’s keywords for our industry are specialization and professionalism. The breeding of new varieties is mostly carried out in large and specialized companies that use completely new breeding methods, and global markets allow a faster return of breeding costs. Scientists have developed completely new breeding methods using genetic engineering or even dedicated gene editing using methods such as CRISPR-CAS. Traditional breeding uses different climate zones that allow seeds to be harvested more times a year. The production of unrooted cuttings takes place mainly in regions around the equator which results with very good quality. Quality is now the most important factor in increasing the sales of ornamental plants. The rapid growth of retail chains and garden centers enables production scaling and cost reduction. To meet the changes in the horticulture world, Vitroflora has been changing its profile. We started as a gerbera young plant company, in the next stage we developed the production of bedding young plants, and for the last 20 years, anticipating market trends, we have been developing the production of perennials young plants. The rapid „in vitro” propagation methods, developed in our laboratories have enabled us to achieve a leading position. Today, perennial young plants is the basis of the company’s offer and development. For the future prosperity horticulture needs above all stable policy and a stable economy. What we certainly do not need is war, energy crises, „lockdowns” and the return of inflation pressure. We wish this for each other. Karol Pawlak