Cultivation of saffron in greenhouses

The saffron plant has many uses; It represents one of the important spices included in many food recipes, and it is a prominent ingredient in many cosmetic products, which makes it so expensive, that it was called “red gold” .. and thus many owners of greenhouses resort to planting it because they believe that it is legitimate profitable..

What is the saffron plant?

• Saffron is a perennial plant, capable of producing purple flowers.
• The process of growing and appearing saffron flowers begins during the month of October.
• It rarely exceeds 10 cm in length.
• Nevertheless; Some species may reach a height of approximately 30 cm.
• The saffron plant lives on the ground for 10:7 years, before being replanted.

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Saffron cultivation in greenhouses

• Like other plants; Many greenhouse growers have grown saffron indoors.
• This process has yielded good agricultural returns; Farmers have found that one hectare of soil is capable of yielding between 2:1 kg of saffron.
• In fact, saffron cultivation inside greenhouses achieves a productivity 12:10 times higher than conventional cultivation.

Requirements for saffron cultivation in greenhouses

The saffron plant needs the availability of the appropriate environment and climatic conditions in order for the process of its cultivation inside the greenhouse to succeed, including:

• An enclosed environment that allows control of temperature and humidity.
• The house temperature should be between 40:35 degrees Celsius during the summer.
• Its planted on shelves, separated by a distance of about 40 cm, and distributed over 4 floors.
• provide arable soil; It is dry and not dry soil.
• The presence of a temperature sensor.
• Planting starts in June.
• As well as providing large lamps to illuminate the house, in addition to some windows that allow natural light to pass inside.
• This is in addition to providing the necessary air conditioners.

Steps of growing saffron inside the greenhouse

And the process of cultivating saffron in the greenhouse goes through four stages:

Preparing the follicles

• In this regard, the farmer needs to use large-sized bulbs; Which weighs more than 15 grams
• These bulbs are stored until the beginning of September, in a cool environment, completely away from sunlight.

Preparing the cultivation room in the greenhouse

• It is the stage in which a room or a healthy and suitable place is prepared inside the greenhouse for cultivating saffron.
• There must be some conditions in that room; For example, to be far from any source of pollution.
• It shall be provided with the necessary air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, in addition to containing fans for heating, to be used in the fruit picking stage.
• This is in addition to preparing the four- or five-story floor shelves, with sufficient space between them to be used as an aisle.

Transfer of saffron

• As for the saffron transfer stage; In it, the place of cultivation is disinfected, and then the follicles are separated from each other and cleaned of any dust or contaminants.
• The bulbs are also soaked in a fungicide solution for a few minutes.
• After the sterilization process is completed; The bulbs are dried by placing them in the shade, in late September.
• The farmer needs to maintain the temperature surrounding the bulbs so that it does not exceed 13 degrees Celsius, for a period of 7 days.
• After the transfer is completed; The follicles will begin to grow.

Saffron Harvest

• When the follicles grow, the farmer will need to raise the temperature