A group of eggplant growers recently got together at Arnoud Brabander’s company in the Netherlands. Arnoud is one of three growers who have a large-scale trial with topped eggplant plants from Hollandplant. The results were discussed and the crop was inspected. Interesting (preliminary) conclusions were drawn.
Light
In the area around Bleiswijk, less light was measured this spring. At Arnoud’s company about 0.5 kg more was harvested than last year, despite the planting being done about 10 days later than last year. The regular, untopped eggplant plants are lagging behind compared to last year. Arnoud: ''The traditional planting date is around mid-December. I plant late January or early February. The plant load of the topped plant increases faster. This is more in line with the rapidly increasing light in this period. Getting the plant in balance is easier this way."
Crop
Kurt Lauwers, Hollandplant: "What I noticed every time is that the crop of topped plants is so uniform. Stems and height. It almost seems like they have been trimmed."
Because of the topping the plant splits at a low height; the plant lies open. Thus, also fewer leaves from the head are broken. From a labor technical point of view, this provides advantages and moreover the leaves can perform well. On the other hand, the fastening requires more time. Arnoud is already convinced. Next year he plans to expand the test of 1 hectare to a total area of four hectares.
For more information:
Hollandplant
Kurt Lauwers
tel +31 521 63 33
mob +32 473 970 685
k.lauwers@hollandplant.nl
www.hollandplant.nl