"24% labor savings with new strawberry container"

It's been almost 1 year since the first 5 ha trial of strawberries with the new bucket from Meteor Systems at Boem Berry Farms. The container has 2 openings on the outside, in which the plant is placed horizontally, rather than placed sloping outward.

The strawberry container in which plants are placed horizontally in the recess

The manager of Boem Berry Farms, Blake Fischer, reveals his experiences with the container. "The strawberry container ensured excellent growth immediately after planting. The space that the plants have, because they are relatively far apart, always ensures light penetration between the two rows," he mentions.

Asked whether there are other benefits, his answer is yes. "There is a lot of labor saving to be gained: we have achieved a 24% labor saving compared with the traditional way of planting. Pulling through of bunches results in a labor saving of 40%, to do this is much easier and now it can be done by less experienced workers."

"The new cultivation system already ensures an extremely high yield and high average fruit weight," Blake continues. The first results from Canada show an individual record weight of as much as 75 grams per strawberry. "Bunches grow outwards, and this transports more sugars to the fruits. Also a better leaf distribution takes place because of the space between the two rows. This provides the leaf with more light, resulting in one red strawberry tsunami."

Boem Berry farms have placed 5 container per meter on the 13 cm wide GM14 gutter. This amounts to 10 plants per meter. Transport of the substrate container has been made easy as they are stackable and almost 4000 pieces fit on a pallet.

For more information:
Meteor Systems
Minervum 7081
4817 ZK Breda
T: +31 76 504 28 42
info@meteorsystems.nl
www.meteorsystems.nl