Extra attention to crop pays off with De Ruiter's new Sevance variety

Belgian tomato grower Luc Coghe owns a 2.6 hectare greenhouse with hybrid lighting. This year Luc has opted for De Ruiter’s latest tomato in the medium truss segment: Sevance.

Luc explains his choice: "This year we wanted to grow a breed accepted by our marketeer Tomabel, and Sevance was one of them. We had already seen Sevance in the trial station, where this breed stuck out because of its beautiful flat truss with six fruits. The extra vigor especially appealed to us. That’s why we have chosen Sevance."

He continues: "Our first harvest came late last year. We constantly prune to 6 fruits, sometimes to trusses of 7 fruits. We do this only when we see that the plant is too strong to be able to control the fruit load. Sevance has a very strong growth, you have to pull out all the stops to restrain it; one more fruit can just make the difference."

With that kind of vigor, a generative cultivation strategy should be applied: “Sevance needs a smooth cultivation strategy with a daily temperature of 20 degrees, depending on weather conditions. We apply a quick cultivation, as we have access to a fair amount of energy for extra vigor in the crop, both in the tubes and with the SonT lamps. In winter you really need to steer the fruit. During the pre-night, temperatures drop to 13, 14 and sometimes even 12 degrees Celsius. When the plants were smaller, after that we would go to 19 or 20 degrees. The plant is so strong that you need to steer well to get coarse fruits."

Luke continues: "We’re still trying to ensure that the plant discharges enough moisture. You have to let Sevance work hard and make it evaporate a lot. Now that the plants are bigger we go to a night temperature of 18 degrees. Then you generate a fruit load fast enough and steering the crop becomes easier."

Luc gives much attention to the fruit setting: "If Sevance sets well, you’re well on your way. You have to ensure that the flowers open well and that the head of the plant doesn’t become too heavy. If Sevance is set up well it performs beautifully. In other words, when applying a generative cultivation strategy, it’s rewarding to grow Sevance."

Currently, the Sevance variety at Luc Coghe is growing well. "We had to search for the right strategy and gain experience but now we’re doing very well. I think we may have missed out on some production in the beginning by growing carefully; a good lesson for the next crop. The average fruit weight was initially between 115 and 125 grams, but we aspire to realize 120 and 125 grams. Production is quite regular and at a good level. We learned a lot in the past months and are confidently looking forward to the rest of cultivation."

Luc also likes Sevance in terms of work load: "This breed is easy to grow. Harvesting is easy and it grows nicely straight. Twining the crop is also easy."

"The fruits have a nice gloss and color well. The quality is very good. The green parts remain attractive and the trusses are very uniform. The vegetable auction has already complimented us on the beautiful tomatoes: a beautiful product with 6 tomatoes per truss, that are sufficiently coarse anyway. As well as this Sevance is slightly ribbed. That looks nice. And the taste is good, too."