If you recently got roses for Valentine's Day, there's a good chance they were grown in the Cayambe valley of Ecuador which produces a vast majority of the roses in the Western Hemisphere with thousands of acres of greenhouse rose production. Production and post-harvest managers toured us around this huge facility. The roses are grown high in elevation at the equator in rich volcanic soils. Due to the proximity to the equator, there is no need to heat the greenhouses & due to the high elevation, there is no need to cool the greenhouses. With roughly 12 hours of sun and 12 hours of night and the sun right overhead, the rose stems grow straight as an arrow - truly an ideal location to grow roses. The roses are harvested with precise specifications regarding stem length and bud tightness. After every fourth cut, the harvester dipped their pruners in disinfectant that they carried with them in order to keep them sanitized and not spread plant diseases. Once cut, they were were rapidly moved from the production greenhouse to the cold storage/post harvest processing area via a rail system (pictured). Every cut rose that meets the standard is shipped out within 24 hours and could be in America to customers within 4 days of harvest. Their whole operation was incredible.
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