Growing greenery for the South African flower market

Welma Viljoen, owner of Mobjadi Farm, spoke to Carol Sutherland about the greenery she produces for the flower market, and the challenges she faces in production and getting her product to market.

- Carol Sutherland

In the 30 or so years that I have been a florist, I cannot count the number of times that one of my clients have said to me: “I don’t need a lot of flowers; just fill the arrangement with greenery.”

What people don't realise is that good-quality in-demand greenery can fetch the same price, and at certain times of the year even more, than some of the in-demand flowers on the Multiflora Flower Market auction.

Welma Viljoen, owner of Mobjadi Farm, supplies the flower market with various types of greenery almost on a daily basis. I wanted to find out from her if greenery farmers face the same obstacles as flower farmers, who have surprisingly high electricity and other input costs.

Mobjadi, which means to grow or to cultivate, is situated in Hekpoort in the Hartebeesfontein area of Gauteng, and nestled at the foothills of the Magaliesburg mountains.

When Viljoen and her husband Dawid bought their farm about 20 years ago, Dawid suggested that they use the land to do some type of farming. Neither of them had any farming experience; Viljoen was an interior designer at the time, working for a firm of architects, and her husband was a systems analyst.

After doing some research looking for a niche in the farming industry, they decided to grow greenery for the flower market.

Now, 18 years later, Mobjadi has grown so significantly that Viljoen bought the adjacent farm. The farm now consists of 11ha.

UNDER SHADE NETTING

At Mobjadi, most of the greenery is growing under shade netting, surrounded by windbreaker trees. Viljoen says they sometimes sell greenery from the windbreaker trees if their leaves are in good condition. Out of the 11ha of land, 8ha are under shade netting. No heating is required for the type of greenery grown at Mobjadi.

"I don't know how flower farmers cope with the high cost of heating their greenhouses. My electricity bill is high enough without any heating costs," says Viljoen.