Turn over of the fields
in Fondotoce Reserve
Minitour flowers (3/3) 
Soil needs some time to recover
The flower farmers in Fondotoce, when they have enough land, can decide to grown the flowers on ground and not inside the greenhouses. This saves therefore on the irrigations expenses and the phytosanitary treatments.
A farmer explain his reasons: "on ground the flowers have more water available as the ground traps it better that the peat used in the greenhouses. Moreover the flowers grown directly on ground are less prone to develop diseases and the high humidity inside the greenhouses is a favorable environment for harmful fungi".
In any case and after few years, it is necessary to leave the fields resting without any cultivation to make them recovery the lost fertility. This method is called "rotation" as each of the field is once let resting as long as necessary, following well planned rules applied trough the centuries.
This method leave some fields available for plants called the "pioneer". They are the first to grown in the meadows as their seeds are easily transported from the surrounding areas by the wind.
The crickets
The foam rubber cricket shown on the right is a female of Leptophyes punctatissima, one species that eats others small insects.
You can easily found this cricked in the abandoned fields where bramble bushes and nettles grow.
On the edge of the wings, not useful for flying, there is the "instrument" that allows these crickets "to sing". It is composed by a bow on the left wing with some indentations that is rubbing on a crest on the other wing.
The female has, at the end of the abdomen, a kind of "sabre" used to place eggs in small cracks in the rind of the trees or into the ground.
Translated by Stefano Rossi
Minitour flowers (2/3)
| More about Fondotoce | |
|---|---|
| Flowers | |
| Reserve | |
| Itinerary |
|
Home - Manifestazioni - Lagoni Park - Fondotoce Reserve - Site map |
This page has been updated on October 2004
more info: info@parchilagomaggiore.it