Growing Ethically: Bloombox Club Meets Duijn-Hove

Brothers Alex and Hugo are the third generation in their family to go into the plant industry, following in the footsteps of their father and grandfather. The pair own Duijn-Hove and Duijn-Orchids, two sprawling grow-houses located between The Hague and Rotterdam: a green area of the Netherlands, famed for its plant cultivation.

Bloombox Club went to meet the Duijin-Hove owners and pick out our Spring subscription plants in person. We asked about their values, what they specialise in, and how they ensure best practice.

When asked what the most rewarding parts of the job are, Alex responds that he ‘just loves working with plants and flowers; and thinking up new plant concepts.’ Walking around the site reveals some of Alex’s special creations: hybrid forms that would not be out of place in a Tim Burton film.

Working with plants is a daily reminder of how important it is to keep the world’s ecosystems in balance. Small shifts in temperature and weather patterns could mean extinction for some plant varieties.

As plant people, it is of great importance to Alex and Hugo that Duijn-Hove operates in an environmentally-friendly way. Every 4 weeks, MPS, the international sustainability agency assesses the impact of Duijn-Hove’s crop protection, energy, fertilisers, water and waste. Admirably, the growing sites are consistently graded A.

Most indoor plants begin life in the regions that they’re adapted to. The Cycas Revoluta, February’s subscription plant, has come from growers in Guatemala and Costa Rica, while this coming month’s is from Honduras.

Globalisation is a fundamental part of the indoor plant industry, as many varieties would take years to grow in Europe and use up precious resources. To ensure that their international partners operate ethically, Alex and Hugo try to visit their suppliers every year, and take action according to what they see. They also take pains to share their wisdom on environmentally friendly crop-protection.