Year-round use of truss supports in tomatoes

Dutch agricultural company RedStar is a specialist in the world of tomatoes as they have been growing high-quality varieties in Europe for over 60 years. RedStar products are known for their flavour, but often the sweetest tomatoes can be the most difficult to produce because of the support systems needed for the plants. Recently RedStar has been using the innovative ARaymond FlexTruss support solution at their Oostvoorne location in Holland.

Year-round supports
The Oostvoorne greenhouses are used for Roterno tomatoes and as RedStar Grower Peter Warbout explains “This particular variety of tomato is tasty, but not easy to grow as the plants need year-round truss supports.” RedStar faced the challenge of finding a protective support which would not damage the Roterno trusses as they grow.

A positive experience
RedStar Innovation Manager Arie Van Vliet noted that the company had already used the ARaymond supports in another location during the 2015-2016 season, and were very satisfied with the results which they regarded as a positive experience. Therefore, they specifically chose to use the FlexTruss supports again with the demanding Roterno plants.

Flexible
Following the trial at the Oostvoorne greenhouse, Peter was impressed with the flexibility of the ARaymond FlexTruss system. The Roterno crop needs to be supported for the entire growth season so this flexibility is very important to the crop growers whose main concern is preventing the plant stems from splitting.

Easy to attach
Peter also noticed that the FlexTruss supports are easy to open, attach and straighten by hand thanks to their unique design, which allows the growers to install them without forcing or damaging the fragile young plants.

The Oostvoorne team were impressed with the way that the FlexTruss supports naturally adapt to the branches as the young plants start to grow and produce fruit and concluded that the FlexTruss support system is an efficient and practical solution to the problems faced by the growers of these delicate yet delicious tomato plants.

For more information:
ARaymond
Carretera Manresa a Berga Km 0,5
08272 Sant Fruitos de Bages
Spain
Phone: +34 93 877 13 14
www.araymond-agriculture.com