Weather Data at the Service of the Crop: The Josarflor Case

By: Tech team Josarflor

For any flower farm, climate is both an ally and a risk. Today, precision agriculture is no longer optional. Systematically monitoring climate variables is key to making daily management decisions, from irrigation to disease control.

Josarflor has sensors installed across its production blocks that record temperature and relative humidity, which are used to calculate Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD), a key indicator of the crop's water demand. This is complemented by atmometers that measure evapotranspiration inside the greenhouses, and a weather station that tracks solar radiation (J/cm²), temperature, wind speed, and rainfall.

This information is analyzed daily and guides adjustments to irrigation, disease management, and production planning.

Irrigation: The Most Direct Decision

Tensiometers determine the optimal irrigation moment

The clearest example of how this data translates into action is irrigation. Radiation, VPD, and evapotranspiration determine the frequency and duration of irrigation pulses: on high-radiation days, the water volume applied is increased to compensate for higher crop water demand, while on cloudy days it's reduced to avoid soil saturation and the associated disease risk.

Atmometers help apply the precise volume of water required

Ecuador's climate calendar brings two distinct risk scenarios. In summer, the combination of low early-morning temperatures and high daytime radiation generates physiological stress in the crop, favoring the appearance of blind shoots, rosettes, and reduced production. In winter, increased rainfall raises humidity and prolongs leaf wetness duration, creating ideal conditions for diseases such as Botrytis and downy mildew (Peronospora).

Facing these risks, Josarflor applies season-specific strategies. In summer, they adjust irrigation based on VPD and radiation, reinforce nutrition, and apply biostimulants to reduce crop stress. In winter, they intensify disease monitoring, improve ventilation, and run preventive programs specifically targeting Botrytis and downy mildew.

Quality, Even Amid Climate Variability

Maintaining a steady supply throughout the twelve months of the year is one of floriculture's biggest challenges. Josarflor addresses this by combining real-time climate monitoring with precision agronomic management, allowing them to anticipate adjustments to irrigation, nutrition, disease control, and crop tasks. This approach reduces variability between production cycles and sustains uniform harvests all year long.

Final product quality is maintained through microclimate control based on VPD, fertigation adapted to the crop's actual demand, a preventive disease management program, and continuous monitoring of all these variables.

For Josarflor, climate management isn't a complement to agronomic practice — it's the foundation of it. Turning temperature, radiation, and humidity data into daily decisions is what allows them to sustain production and quality in the face of an increasingly variable climate.