Production

Plant propagation

Our propagation and growing methods are 100% organic and certified as such in terms of EU regulations.

Buchu seed is difficult to obtain and rooting of cuttings has not been successful.   Seed germination is also very difficult. 

Seeds are expelled from a capsule but collecting viable seeds is difficult as the plant flowers over an extended period from September to February.  We tried germinating seeds in a hot house but have now mastered planting seed directly into the fields.  

Growing Buchu is extremely difficult, as the plant is very specific about its soil requirements, altitude, aspects and climatic conditions.

Buchu prefers generally coarse graded, acidic, nutrient poor soils.  (pH 3.5 to 4.5)  It grows well in the Mediterranean type climate – dry summers and winter rains.

We have been cultivating Buchu for many years.  Currently our oldest field is 60 years, and we have one that was planted in 1975. We chose to farm organically because we did not want to upset the balance of the wild Buchu.

We do NO spraying, weeding is done by hand. We use only organic fertilizer when necessary.

Irrigation is done by overhead sprinklers twice a week in summer.  We do harvesting by hand  usually from December until May.

Until 4 years ago we only produced the wet material.  When the market crashed yet again we decided to try distilling ourselves.

For us lot integrity and traceability are the two most important factors when we process the oil. 

Harvesting from each field is done separately and we can trace each lot back to a specific field. No blending  or mixing is done.

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Piquet Buchu, P O Box 265, PIKETBERG, 7320 South Africa, Tel: +27 (0)229145805, Mobile: +27  (0)835029574
Email: michele@mvfarm.co.za