The Nursery Jan van der Knaap was founded in 1919 by Dolf van der Knaap. Initially growing, grapes, peaches and apples which were grown and transported by water. The Nursery is a real family business, with the fourth generation, Jan junior, at the helm. He has expanded the company into a 5.5 hectare specialized nursery with a wide range of seasonal products.
In addition to being a family business, it is also a modern nursery, which is located in the heart of the Westland growing area. We stand behind our products, which are of excellent quality, and grown with passion.
What do you grow?
What is grown varies per season.
In spring: Dianthus, Bellis, Myosotis, Viola Cornuta and Osteospermum.
In summer: Pentas, Platycodon, and Celosia
In autumn: Cyclamen, Solanum, Capsicum and Poinsettia
What is your most popular product?
The Osteospermum is always a product that stands out. These beautiful plants are a successful plant. This can of course be attributed to the beautiful colours, which brighten up every garden, terrace and balcony.
How does the osteospermum growing process work?
From the Osteopermum, cuttings are first picked from a mother plant. These cuttings are placed into a cutting tray for rooting. This will take approximately four weeks. After this, the cuttings are sufficiently rooted and can be planted in to the pot. In the pot they can grow into a perfectly formed flowering plant showing the excellent quality we expect from Jan van der Knaap.
Where do the young plants come from?
The young plants come from various young plant suppliers, from different continents, which include, Kenya, Ethiopia and Greece, among others.
What makes you exclusive?
The changing assortment of seasonal products, the pots, ton sur ton, which are colour coordinated with the product, and our quality guarantee make us unique.
How long does the growing process take and what is the most challenging in this process?
The duration of the cultivation process differs per product and varies from 8 to a maximum of 20 weeks.
The growing process has two major challenges. Firstly, the daily challenges of the orders, the amount and availability of the plants. What is also a major part to the growing process is the weather conditions. Without the sun they have to take different steps, this also means, too much intense sun, also means having to change the growing pattern.
What do you do with regard to sustainability?
In terms of sustainability, we have already taken many steps. For example, the greenhouses are heated by geothermal heat. In addition, we generate our own electricity with the help of our solar panels.
