“I don’t know how exactly, but we got a little bit of mosaic virus in the greenhouse. Things like this can get out of hand if you don’t jump on it quickly. That’s why we want to stamp it out immediately”, says Ron Voorberg of Foothill Greenhouses, a 6 hectare cucumber greenhouse in Ontario, Canada. Ron Voorberg decided to start working with the CGMMV protocol developed by Dutchman Ron Peters. He claims that growers can be virus free with this plan of action.
“We’re a bit isolated on the main growing area in Ontario and maybe that’s why we stayed virus free for so long. We grow cucumbers on 6 hectares and never had any problems with this particular virus”, Ron Voorberg says. Last year though, he noticed a mosaic infection on his 6 hectare cucumber crop. “Just a minor infection, but the one thing I’ve learned in all these years of growing is that in situations like these, you have to tackle it in the early stages. You have to stamp it out when it starts.”
To get rid of the virus ASAP, Ron Voorberg uses Ron Peters' protocol. The Dutch cucumber specialist developed a strict list of steps to get rid of the virus in a crop rotation. The protocol was created after serious problems in the Dutch cucumber industry, when growers had a tough time getting rid of the virus. “The protocol isn’t very expensive or very intense, but it's very strict,” Ron Peters says. “We’ve tried it for some years now and it’s very important to follow the steps and to follow them strictly. The virus can be kept out, but is also very persistent.”
Ron Voorberg will see the results within months. “We grow on three blocks and rotate three or even four times a year. That makes over ten crop rotations in a year, so chances are that, with the right procedures, we can keep it from coming back,” he says. “We needed to get educated quickly and I have the impression Ron Peters was the best option. I trust on his knowledge and experiences – he knows what he’s talking about.”
Before the contamination occurred, Foothill Greenhouses used a biofilter, cleaned up regularly, and used new slabs with every crop. “It might seem like little disinfection, but it used to be enough. Now we want to eradicate the virus with good procedures.”
For more information on the CGMMV protocol, please contact Ron Peters directly:
Ron Peters Proeftuin