Friday, August 26, 2016

Tropical flower production booming thanks to warm Top End dry season

A Northern Territory cut flower grower is struggling to keep up with demand and production is booming thanks to a warm Top End dry season.
         

Mike Braun, who runs a farm at Herbert in Darwin's rural area, thinks it is just a sign of things to come as the climate changes.

Mr Braun said he could not produce enough water lilies, and the Heliconias or lobster claws were also doing very well.

An investment in a second Heliconia plantation just over a year ago is paying off.

Mr Braun cuts flowers every Friday morning, selling around 250 stems to a wholesaler.

The flowers end up in markets and flower shops in Darwin and, in the warmer southern months, they are flown interstate.

Mr Braun said conditions were also good for Heliconia chartacea or "sexy pink", a valuable but temperamental variety that often succumbs to root rot.

"It's very hard to grow, a lot of growers can't grow it any more," he said.

The sexy pinks command a premium in the market place.

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