Red Light soil blocks

In early March, growers Kuunders and Derikx in South Holland planted 1.5 million red onion soil blocks. The blocks are laid out on a machine by hand, and the machine plants them neatly in the ground.

The plots are located in Deurne and Ysselsteyn, where the soil is warmer and the crops can grow faster. The soil blocks with Red Light onions by De Groot en Slot were first allowed to germinate in a greenhouse. Waterman Onions hopes that this method will allow growers to bring the new harvest of red seed onions to market even earlier.

All of the seeds germinated, and the crop has reached a nice even height, so the plot already looks very promising. The project is very labour-intensive, however, which makes it somewhat more expensive. Each hectare will have to produce several kilogrammes to make it break even. It is important that the onions have enough nutrients to achieve a good yield, so that the grower can harvest a healthy product.