General Straathof’s Seeds was founded in 1952 by Cornelius Augustinus Straathof, better known as Kees. It is a family business in its second generation, headed by Kees’ daughter, Marlaen Straathof. Straathof’s Seeds is one of the largest speciality seed companies in Southern Africa, specialising in flower and vegetable seed. This means using only the highest quality seed and offering the best range and service. To be the best requires us always to have the leading edge and to be one step ahead of the competition.
Straathof’s services and supplies Southern Africa as well as European countries. As part of a fast-moving world, we ensure that we keep abreast of all new technological developments by conducting trials at various sites around South Africa. Straathof’s is proud to be a member of Fleuroselect – the international organisation for the testing and marketing of new flower seed varieties.
Straathof’s supplies retail outlets and home gardeners with seed, bulbs and environmentally friendly garden care products under the brand of Kirchhoffs. In addition to this, we serve the professional growers of the industry with our high quality seed and our young plants division, known as Gro-Plug. | | Kirchhoffs - Filled Seeds Packets | Kirchhoffs has been servicing the home gardener in Southern Africa since 1896. These eye catching foil packets are distributed throughout garden centres and stores. There is a large range of flower, vegetable, herb, lawn, and Kirstenbosch indigenous seeds available to the home gardener.
Retailers and Garden Centres who would like to stock Kirchhoffs seeds have a choice between various display stands and point of sale material to accompany the stock. As South Africa has two selling seasons, representatives monitor varieties on sale and exchange packets to ensure that the correct varieties are always available and the seed is always fresh.
Straathof’s has also launched a small but compact range of ‘Environmentally Responsible’ garden care products. These “organic pesticides” protect beneficials in your garden while getting rid of harmful pests.
Recently Straathof’s revisited history and brought out a Kirchhoffs range of Indigenous bulbs. While limited, the range offers some unique indigenous varieties for the home gardener. | Straathof’s also supplies larger quantities of seed to professional bedding and cutflower growers as well as landscapers. This range includes those varieties that are not available in picture packets. Varieties that are more expensive, rare, or hard to grow are also included in this range. Some varieties that are available in raw seed are also available in pelleted seeds, making sowing easier for the grower.
| | Straathof’s Young Plant Division | Gro-Plug is the growing operation of BallStraathof. Annual and perennial plugs are supplied to bedding plant growers, cut-flower producers, landscapers and parks and recreational departments, both locally and internationally. Cuttings are propagated from a wide range of varieties, some of which are produced under license for the Southern African market. These are available either rooted or unrooted and are grown to customer's requirements. By using Gro-Plug, growers are guaranteed useable plants of equal size resulting in more uniform seedlings. This in turn means production savings, elimination of oversowing and better production planning, resulting in larger profit margins for growers.
The Young Plant Division uses only the highest quality seed from the world’s best breeders. Plugs are grown in 128, 200 and 595-cavity trays. All plugs are packed in special waxed boxes, which ensure that the plants are fresh and crisp on arrival at their destination. For export, plants are shipped by air and couriered and all phytosanitary requirements are adhered to. |
