We have been growing red bell peppers at our nursery in Pijnacker since 1997. My wife Miranda and I run the company, with her focus being more on the administrative side and mine on the actual growing process. If you have your own business like this, it's vital to have good organisational talent and maintain a structured overview. As far as that is concerned, there are a lot of parallels between running your own business from home or from an office.
During the cultivation process, it is crucial that you can 'read' the signals given by the plants in the greenhouse. Plants respond immediately to the weather conditions and to changes in patterns of dark and light. From the moment the seedlings have been planted in the greenhouse, you are kept busy with plant care and maintenance, such as topping and preparing the wires that support the growing plants. After a while the fruits appear in the plant's axils, and if light levels are sufficient they develop into red bell peppers. The fruits that are set in mid-February turn into the mature red bell peppers that can be harvested at the end of March.
