When Dr. Isabelle Spindler, a flower aficionado, established Red Lands Roses in 1996, the area where the farm sits in Ruiru, a small town roughly 35km northeast of Nairobi, Kenya, was practically barren with murram soil; not very useful for agriculture purposes. The idea was to develop the farm to suit flower cultivation, given the ideal climatic conditions that the region — and by extension the country — possesses for flower farming.
Years later, so much has happened on the farm. It is now a leading rose producer, not just in Kenya, but also competes against some of the very best flower farms globally. Red Lands Roses now prides itself in producing socially-conscious and sustainably-grown haute couture roses; well-adored by many worldwide. It is internationally recognized for its green horticulture practices and promotion of its team and neighboring communities.
Sustainability Is a Key Factor in Red Lands Roses' Success Story
Known for the production of a wide assortment and varieties of exquisite rose varieties, the success of the flower farm comes with years of grueling work and efforts to ensure that only unique and quality flowers sprout from it.
And while a lot has thus far been achieved, the farm keeps doing more to ensure the high standards of roses it produces are maintained. After all, that has always been Dr. Spindler’s dream; to see Red Lands Roses remain the best while maintaining the standards it mapped out for itself when it was started.
While there has been a great deal of effort put into achieving this feat, the sustainability cause has been one which has been effectively implemented, and which Red Lands Roses is proud of. There are, simply, many sustainability-driven efforts and features put in place. Thus, it has been awarded several green and social welfare labels by different organizations including the UN Climate Neutral Now and One Carbon World (for carbon neutrality), the Blue Label (corruption-free organization), MPS-A (Highest grade for environment care), Kenya Flower Council (KFC) Silver grade, and GLOBAL - GAP (for good agricultural practices).
Just so that you know, the flower farm has, basically, been carbon-neutral certified since 2020. An institution achieves carbon neutrality by continuously calculating its carbon footprint and reducing it to zero through a combination of efficiency measures in-house, and supporting external emission reduction projects. Red Lands Roses, as a result, engages in numerous tree-planting activities across the region.
Even so, these institutions perform audits regularly and the flower farm, keeps implementing the best practices for a better planet and the welfare of its team and their families. It’s no surprise the Kenyan rose grower’s choice of flowers makes the headlines, and grace key and exclusive events across the world; far away from their production site.
You can read about a unique rose variety from Red Lands Roses which pays tribute to a Kenyan environmental icon!
Sustainable Causes That Make Red Lands’ Roses Tick All the Boxes
A lot goes into the production of the flowers. From the moment the roses are planted in the greenhouses, throughout their cultivation and production processes, to when they are picked, sorted, and packaged for the market, sustainability remains key. It is adhered to and implemented to the letter! Here’s how the flower farm guarantees this.
Energy and Water Use on the Farm
Energy is a critical component for the success of every industry. At Red Lands Roses, green energy, in the form of solar power, is used in the different production processes. Currently, the flower farm gets 30% of its energy resources from the solar panels installed on the rooftops of some of its buildings and structures at the farm. This supplements the grid electricity it uses.
Water, another critical element in all agricultural-driven industries, is also sustainably sourced and used at the flower farm. From the rooftops of its numerous buildings and greenhouses, rainwater is usually channeled to a 30,000m3 dam on one end of the farm. There are also a few other reservoirs for water storage lined with dam liners to ensure that no water seeps away or is lost in the soil through percolation.
Sustainable Rose Cultivation
The greenhouses are where the exquisiteness of the grower’s roses starts, and therein, everything has to be right to guarantee that the flowers are sustainably produced. For starters, for its flower cultivation processes, Red Lands Roses uses pumice - whose mining is environmentally friendly - on raised beds, rather than growing the flowers directly on the soil.
Since its inception, the farm has fully employed hydroponics cultivation. This guarantees that hardly any water is lost to the ground, thus the company recycles 100% of its irrigation water. Recycling the water — which usually contains dissolved fertilizers and other nutrients required by the flowers — is generally done in a closed-circuit system, enabling the farm to save on the cost of fertilizers.
The recycled water is also UV-treated before re-use, guaranteeing the elimination of any diseases and pathogens in the irrigation water system. This model also minimizes the chances of the used water percolating through the earth and altering the soil composition in any way. Thus there is no impact on the environment. The area’s original soil conditions are, therefore, maintained in this environmentally friendly flower farming model.
Worth noting is that the farm uses drip irrigation on its flowers. This guarantees efficient use of water, least water waste, and effective fertilizer and nutrient use. Drip irrigation is essentially, 90% efficient in water application.
Crop Protection Practices
Just like any other plant, flowers are susceptible to pests and diseases. In essence, while the conditions for flower cultivation are ideal in the country, they also present conducive settings for varieties of pests to thrive. And while there are numerous methods for addressing the pest and disease challenge, Red Lands Roses chooses to do it sustainably, without harming the environment.
Integrated pest management (IPM) practices are at the heart of the farm activities, and chemical use on the flowers is minimally considered. IPM is a sustainable, science-based, decision-making process that combines pest management tools and strategies including biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools to identify, manage, and reduce risk from pests in a way that minimizes overall economic, health, and environmental risks.
Red Lands Roses, for starters, deploys biological pest control. This is the use of living organisms to control pests. A beneficial insect — a living predator — which is a natural pest enemy, is introduced into the greenhouses and encouraged to multiply and become more effective in reducing the pest organisms. Such include Phytoseiulus persimilis, Amblyseius montdorensis, and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri. Sometimes, the farm also uses bio-pesticides.
Pests like spider mites and thrips are effectively controlled using these biological predators, which are sometimes applied on the ground in the greenhouses. Other methods include misting the greenhouses, using sticky traps, and pheromone traps, and employing monitoring tools.
Likewise, there are dedicated scouts who move throughout the greenhouses, identifying where there are pests and diseases so that intervention measures can be focused on specific prevalent sites.
Flower Harvesting and Packaging
Harvesting and packaging the flowers is also an area in which sustainability is comprehensively employed. For starters, after the flowers are hand-picked, they are put in recyclable harvesting solutions, hence minimal waste of natural water resources. They are then sustainably transported to the collection points using conveyors, then into cold storage facilities which are designed to use minimal power. These facilities are insulated to avoid using more energy to cool them.
The buckets used therein are specifically designed, by Red Lands Roses, to suit the flowers collection purposes. They are designed to use less water. Also, at the grading, sorting, and packing point, the use of plastic packaging is entirely non-existent. Flowers on the farm are packed in biodegradable packaging. In fact, Red Lands Roses was the first farm in Kenya to use 100% paper sleeves.
Additionally, the tags used on the flowers are made using recyclable material. The flower boxes are, also, made with a food-based adhesive, which is sustainable. Recycled card box paste is also used. Still, at the sorting and packaging stage, waste flowers from these processes are shredded on-site and used as mulch and manure. Many other activities and applications on the flower farm are driven by the sustainability cause.
Thus, as the global trends in floriculture continue to lean more towards sustainability and sustainably produced and sourced flowers, Red Lands Roses shows just how this is achieved; the sustainable way.
Photos by Red Lands Roses.
