Florcoop Sanremo in order to secure a share of the supply of the main floricultural products has taken the path of self-production first by planting cut flowering buttercups in a greenhouse and later by reclaiming for cultivation an area of about 2.2 ha in the hills destined for cut green fronds. After grubbing and tilling with ripper and plow of the soil, followed by plotting, raised beds were created about 30 cm above the ground with a diameter of about 50 cm amended with peat substrate for pH correction. Next, about 3,600 plants of Pittosporum variegatum cv.Silver Queen were planted in the 14-cm pot from self-rooted cuttings. Each raised flower bed where the seedling is centrally placed is equipped with two 8-liter/hour drippers that can be used for both irrigation and fertigation. This new planting system allows water to drain around the root system and thus makes the Pittosporum plant less susceptible to summer attacks by dangerous fungi that are agents of root rot. In addition to Pittosporum, which covers more than 70 percent of the farm’s usable area, about 1,500 micropropagation Eucalyptus Gunnii plants, about 270 Pittosporum Irene Patterson plants, 250 Pittosporum Ralphii plants, 105 Hydrangea Paniculata plants, and, in the most inaccessible areas, about 270 Eucalyptus populifolia plants were planted.

The farm is also equipped with a weather shed for monitoring the main climatic factors with special reference to those necessary to pilot irrigation based on the evapotranspiration of the area and thus the need or otherwise for irrigation intervention. They complete the suction system, which can be used during the hot period for Pittosporum, necessary to lower the leaf temperature and thus allow the plant to better overcome the high temperature stress of the summer period. All the sensors communicate with a PC, which by processing the data makes it possible to manage the openings of the different solenoid valves of the irrigation system and, in the presence of a fertilizer and acid dosing device, makes it possible to supply the plants with the nutrients needed for growth according to the needs of the different species by providing the plant with solutions with pH and conductivity appropriate to the growth and type of soil.

No herbicide treatments are carried out on the farm, only mechanical processing when necessary, and pesticide treatments are carried out using low-impact formulations with a view to environmental sustainability.