Crocus sativus size 11/+ - BIO

The difference between organic and non-organic corms is that organic corms are being cultivated completely organically, without the use of any chemical plant protection products.
These corms will come with a European organic certificate. Click here to view our organic certificate.
The non-organic corms are being cultivated in a sustainable manner, with a minimum use of chemical crop protection.

The difference between the different bulbs sizes is that the bigger bulbs will bloom better and will give more flowers in the first year after planting. Also larger bulbs are developing better and multiply faster than smaller bulbs.
Bulbs of size 7/8 will give little or no flowering in the first year of planting, whereby the flowering percentage of bulbs of size 8/9 lies between 40 and 80 percent.
Saffron bulbs of size 9/10 give 1 or 2 flowers per bulb in the first year, bulbs of size 10/11 about 2 to 3 flowers per bulb and Crocus sativus bulbs of size 11/+, 3 or more flowers per bulb.
The flowering rate will increase in the following years due to their multiplication and growth.

• The fact that our bulbs are grown on a sustainable manner means that, during the cultivation of our saffron bulbs, we reduced the use of chemical crop protection to a minimum.
  This resulted in the fact that we stopped using chemical soil fumigation, we don't apply any pesticides containing the so-called neonicotinoids and the herbicide "Roundup" is no longer used on our fields.
  Also we try to improve and maintain the soil quality and soil organisms of our land by using quality compost and other soil improvers.

Neonicotinoids are certain substances related to nicotine, which are used in a number of systemic pesticides and biocides. The use of these agents has been associated by several researchers worldwide with increased bee mortality.

Independent scientific research has shown that the herbicide Roundup, and especially the active ingredient of this product "glyphosate", plays a role in the development of cancer and potentially hormone disrupting. Also this herbicide is extremely bad for the soil in which the bulbs are grown because the soil biology is strongly disrupted by glyphosate.

The crocus Sativus bulbs we sell are grown by ourselves, so you are buying bulbs directly from the grower without the intervention of wholesalers. Since we grow the crocus bulbs on a large scale we can offer them (much) cheaper than many other suppliers.

Our saffron bulbs are being uprooted every year in late June / early July.
Once uprooted, we wash and dry them and give them a proper temperature treatment. After this treatment, the bulbs are being calibrated in different sizes and prepared for our sales.
This whole process needs to be done carefully to guarantee our customers the best quality of crocus Sativus bulbs and saffron.

The Best time to plant our saffron bulbs is from mid-August to the end of September. Bulbs planted before the end of September will flower in late October / early November.

The quantity of bulbs that you can plant per m2 depends on the bulb size.
With bulbs of size 7/8 you can plant about 60 to 70 bulbs per m2, bulbs of size 8/9, 50 to 60 bulbs per m2 and with bulbs of size 9/10, 40 to 50 bulbs per m2.

The size of our bulbs is given in centimeter of the circumference of the bulbs. For example, bulbs of size 9/10 have a circumference between 9 and 10 centimeters.
The diameter of our bulbs can be easily calculated by dividing the circumference of the bulbs by Pi (Pi ≈ 3,14).
So bulbs of size 9/10 have a diameter between 9/3,14 ≈ 2,86 and 10/3,14 ≈ 3,18 centimeters.

It is very difficult to give you a fixed price of saffron because it highly dependents on the supply and demand, the quality and its origin.
It is often argued that the price of 1 kg of saffron lies around € 30,000. This price actually just applies to the saffron which is offered in small quantities. For example, you can buy saffron in a bag of 50 mg at the supermarket for € 1.25. Translated to 1 kg it makes a total of € 25,000 per kg.
It should be said that the quality of the saffron that you can buy at the supermarket is worse than the more expensive saffron sold in specialty stores.

It is certainly profitable to grow your own saffron because the saffron cultivation is a perennial crop. The bulbs you buy from us, multiply themselves each year in the ground, and therefore you can harvest your own saffron up to 4 - 5 years in a row in which the harvest increases every year. After this period you can dig up the bulbs and replant them again on another piece of land.
In this way you only need to buy bulbs one time in order to harvest saffron for many years.