Good control with lower substrate volume in Hybrid-exposed tomato
PRESS RELEASE
We have come a long way with the crop. Last week, the head was removed from the crop, with which we will realise the final setting this week. Despite the nice weather, we have to stay focused to achieve a good final result. The summer days demand a lot from the plants when it comes to maintaining the water balance. This also means for us that we have to make sure we give the plant the opportunity to do so.
This season, Saint-Gobain Cultilene is again participating in the trial with hybrid lighting at the Improvement Centre in Bleiswijk together with partners Signify, De Ruiter Seeds and Delphy. This season, everything is slightly different from previous years, so we also had to make some adjustments in the substrate and watering compared to previous years. For instance, Juanita has been replaced by Merlice. The former was grafted on Maxifort and came to the garden with two heads per plant. This year, Merlice is the main variety and started with three heads per plant (3.3 stems/m2) and grafted on DRO141. This means not only the number of stems per metre at the start of cultivation changes, but much more, fewer plants per metre.
The above therefore ensures that we have to think carefully beforehand about what the plant needs when it comes to substrate. Some of the questions that came along were; do we still need so much substrate? and how much buffer do we need? The latter is especially true in summer. To be able to steer the crop optimally, the choice was made to grow with a 25% lower substrate volume (7.5 cm high instead of 10 cm high). This means we see a faster response to the changes we make. But it also means that we have to water a bit longer during the day, otherwise the intering becomes too big.
At the beginning of the season, this still sometimes caused discussions. For instance, wasn't the volume chosen too low after all?, With the strategy chosen, it soon became clear that we had good control of the substrate. Throughout the year we were able to work with a fixed turn size and by playing with the frequency we had very good control. At the time of heading, there was still a vigorous crop, which until week 28, produced over 85 kg/m2. So the production target of 107 kg/m2 still stands. So it is important to match your substrate well with the strategy you want to follow.
Note to editors:
More information can be obtained from Lisanne Helmus-Schuddebeurs:
06 - 21 58 67 30