This season, the Tracey RZ eggplant variety can be found on more than 55 hectares in the Netherlands. The Tracey growers meet every 4-5 weeks to share their experiences about this new variety. Wednesday, May 22, 2019, another Tracey tour took place, this time at 3 cultivation companies in the province of North Brabant. Rijk Zwaan shares a report.
The first company has the most generative Tracey crop. The fruit growth is super fast at this company. The crop is open and labor-friendly. The side shoots are very efficient: short, fast flowering and doesn’t grow after flowering. The total greenhouse is harvested twice a week and the average fruit weight is 330-340 grams.
The Tracey crop at the second company in terms of vigor is equivalent to the first, but it does have slightly more volume. This is mainly because of a bit more growth on the shoots. Here too, a pre-set pre-night temperature of 16 ºC is used, which is currently not always realized anymore because of the outside temperature. The afternoon temperature may get as high as 28 ºC in good weather, with build-up on joules soon around noon.
At the third company we see the crop with the most growth. Recently some more screening has been done, especially in the early morning, to prevent the top temperature from dropping too much. Afternoon temperature may rise to 29.5 ºC, this crop is able to handle that. The crop is harvested twice. Furthermore, a top leaf has been broken out to control the crop a bit more generatively.
Conclusion of this tour
It has been very good so far to control Tracey with a pre-night temperature. This for strong flowering and stimulation of the side shoots. Now we can talk about whether this night temperature can be raised slightly to keep flowering quickly and spontaneously. Day temperatures for Tracey do not necessarily have to reach 30 ºC, so the extremes can be reduced a little. Harvesting twice a week is really an added value for the variety.
For more information: 
Rijk Zwaan Nederland
rijkzwaannederland@rijkzwaan.nl
www.rijkzwaan.nl