Murara Plants Kenya
Murara Plants Kenya is one of the leading plant propagators in Africa. It is located in Kericho, in the middle of Kenya’s highlands, west of the Great Rift Valley with an altitude of about 2,150 metres above sea level.
The estate covers 15,000 hectares and is surrounded by tea plantations. Kericho has a warm climate and relatively high rainfall throughout the year, making it an ideal location for propagating high-quality cuttings that meet all international phytosanitary requirements. ‘We work closely with HilverdaFlorist BV for the production of cuttings of cut flowers, garden and pot plants. Rooted or unrooted, mainly for the European and African markets. We harvest cuttings from our mother plants supplied by HilverdaFlorist and tissue culture plants supplied from India.
‘The open structure and design of the net allow us to closely monitor the growing process. This allows us to detect pests and diseases at an early stage. For example, we have much less trouble with snails, which usually thrive in very moist soil. We owe this to the efficient humidity in a Growcoon, which reduces their chances of survival.’
Murara about Growcoon
A Growcoon is a unique plug holder! What appeals to us is that you can fill it with your own substrate. We have experienced tremendous growth and made several adjustments to our operating systems. In addition, we introduced the Growcoon. This has scaled up our rooting capacity to over 4000m2 of which 50% of the entire crop is Alstroemeria. Since 2021, we have been using Growcoons for our Alstroemeria crop in Finnpeat. Although we have not adjusted our cultivation cycle (yet), we see potential opportunities to speed up the process from 8 to 6 weeks, allowing us to deliver the plants earlier, which offers a fresh perspective!
Growcoon & Root development
We have noticed a great improvement in the quality of our plants thanks to the Growcoon. The roots develop very well because the Growcoon binds the root ball very well and provides structure, allowing the roots to continue growing under optimal protection. Even after repotting, the plants grow evenly.
‘How our buyers are responding? Not everyone in Africa is familiar with the Growcoon. So the first reactions are sometimes a bit hesitant. But the principle is very sustainable. We want to convince our buyers of that!’
Growcoon on transport Cost
Growcoons are stackable and compact which allows us to import huge volumes because they just don’t take up as much space. This saves us freight costs.
We export our cuttings not in trays but in boxes. The Growcoon then protects and supports the roots well, keeps them intact and free of damage. The Growcoon keeps the crop in good condition, even during transport. Because of the Growcoon, the plugs are considerably drier than before. The substrate in the plug retains water/moisture well (this creates an excellent buffer), which in turn keeps the net dry as it does not absorb any moisture. This makes our water management much more efficient. As a result, we save up to 18%, not only on volume and weight, but therefore also on our freight costs.
Growcoon and sustainability
Growcoon has a positive impact on our carbon footprint, as we save on our imports and emissions. Sustainability and CSR play a big role in our organisation, as we are aware of our carbon footprint and we are very keen on recycling to reduce air and water pollution. For instance, we make our own Vermicompost as an organic fertiliser, apply an IPM (Intergrated Pest Management) strategy, which focuses on long-term prevention of pests through a combination of biological control and habitat manipulation.
A concept like Growcoon fits very well into this sustainability process. It is 100% biodegradable (which is endorsed and recognised by the OK compost certificate).