Growing cress on flax fleece

Growing Cress on Flax Fleece

Klaus Hofmann, a vegetable farmer who specialises in growing cress, has come up with a surprising idea: he developed a product which reduces our waste output, saves our resources and is still hardly any more expensive than the traditional product.

Instead of growing cress in small plastic bowls, he uses flax fleece and bowls made from paper. For this innovative idea the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture thought him and the Textilgruppe Hof fit to receive the Bavarian Award for Renewable Raw Materials of DM 20 000.

Textilgruppe Hof develops and produces high-quality fleece from flax fibres for usage as packaging as well as in the field of gardening and landscape gardening. Today 40 tons of fleece are being produced every month for gardening purposes.

The Solution to a Contradiction in Terms

Rooting in the fleece

The conventional way of growing cress is to use plastic bowls filled with perlite substrate. Perlite is a volcanic rock which is turned into a granular form through a process that uses up large amounts of energy. For Klaus Hofmann it is a contradiction in terms to put an environmentally-friendly product such as cress, which does not need any fertilizer or chemical treatment, in packaging that produces a lot of waste. On top of that the substrate and the plastic bowls have to be disposed of separately. These were the reasons for Klaus Hofmann to search for other methods and substrates for his trade.

Biological Through and Through

Together with Textilgruppe Hof, Klaus Hofmann developed a patented method of growing cress on flax fleece, which required investments of 150 000 DM before it could be put into action. Since 1994 Klaus Hofmann produced approximately 1.5 million bowls of cress with his new method.

Shorter Growing Periods

The pre-cut flax fleece is fitted into metal bowls and moistened. Once the seeds have started sprouting, sheets of glass are put on top, so that the shoots are pushed down and start rooting deep enough inside the fleece. This method also improves the optic result of the finished product, because the cress now grows evenly. If the plants receive the optimal amount of light and water, they can be harvested after six to six and a half days; this is a whole day less than with conventional growing methods. Thus the profit earned per square metre increases, while the energy consumption decreases. Finally, the pre-cut fleece, which is now covered with cress, is fitted into fold-up paper boxes; these boxes are easily put together without using glue, and are 100 % decomposable, just as the fleece itself is.

Ready for sale

What are the Advantages?

• flax is a renewable raw material
• using flax avoids the utilization of energy-consuming processing of mineral substrate
• four tons of synthetic waste can be avoided per year
• the disposal of all materials used is unproblematic (composting)
• the method is less labour-intensive (no need to fill plastic containers)
• production costs are hardly higher than before

Growing Vegetables

This new method is also suitable for the growing of shoots of a range of different kinds of vegetables, e.g. radishes, broccoli, mustard seeds, soy beans. It can also be used for growing salads, herbs and plants that are harvested above ground, e.g. lamb's lettuce, chervil and basil.

Lamb's Lettuce

Lamb's lettuce growing on flax fleece

Similar to cress, the lettuce seeds are put on the fleece and watered. As soon as the shoots have developed large enough roots, the cut fleece is transfered onto a grid which lies above the soil; now the plants can root in the soil. Once the lettuce is ready for harvesting, the roots are simply cut underneath the fleece, and the lettuce plus fleece can be packed into fold-up paper boxes.

Advantages for the Customer

This method of growing lettuce has a lot of advantages. First, the lettuce stays fresh and clean longer, because the customer only cuts it from the fleece for immediate use. Second, the lettuce is free from soil and sand. Finally, the amount which is sold is standardised by the size of the fleece and the density of seeding; therefore the produce does not have to be weighed at packaging; Synthetic packaging, too, becomes superfluous.

Landscape Gardening

Landscape gardening is another area where Hofmann looked for sensible ways of using his method and he developed a new system of laying out flax fleeces. If one cuts into the flax mats at the edges, they can be layed out more easily, they overlap and keep off weeds, while the plants can grow upwards in between the cuts. The mats simply are rolled out onto the soil, on large areas they can even be layed down mechanically.

Mulch fleece made from flax

Up to the point of their total decomposition, the fleece protects the growing plants from weeds and pests for two years, while it also regulates temperature and moistness, and even provides the soil with various kinds of nutrients. There are no harmful effects on the soil. Mr. Hofmann has been using the material since 1995 in his own business. Since 1997 it has also been available on the market.

For further information please contace:

Klaus Hofmann
Spinnenberg 7
97320 Albertshofen
GERMANY
Phone: ++ 49 9321 / 31792
Fax: ++ 49 9321 / 31914