New 26 cm hook provides labor savings at GreenValley

Royal Brinkman, together with Magic Hooks, is bringing a 26-centimeter high-wire hook with a tail on the market. The longer Easyhook provides significant labor savings in cucumber cultivation. Employees at GreenValley in De Lier, The Netherlands, need to drop the plants less often. Thanks to the free fall of the twine in the form of a tail, the hooks can also be hung up more quickly.

The 26-centimeter hook is marketed specifically for cucumber cultivation. A cucumber plant grows on average per week almost twice as fast as a tomato plant. Due to the rapid growth, a 22 or 24-centimeter hook is not efficient in cucumber cultivation. Thanks to the longer 26-centimeter Easyhook, there is a reduction in labor costs, because employees do not have to drop the plants as often, and the plants hang at the right cutting height. Tim Prins of GreenValley: “Our cucumber greenhouse is 7.8 hectares in size and has 224 thousand plants. With 60 employees a day it is important to organize the working day as efficiently as possible. With the 26-centimeter hook, we now only lower the plants half a turn twice a week and the plant hangs at the ideal cutting height for the employees.”

Hook with a tail
The hook from Magic Hooks is easy to work with and has unique packaging. Attached to the high wire hooks is a bundle of twine that sits together like a ponytail. The twine is wrapped with a sleeve which enables clean work. During the hanging, the tail is hung out of the box. Then the free fall is led out of the box by itself. Cultivation specialist Martin Meuldijk of Royal Brinkman is pleased with the longer Easyhook: “The 26-centimeter hook is a nice addition to the range of high wire hooks. With the 26-centimeter hook, we can supply a complete range to cucumber growers.”

 Hook 26 centimeter cucumber.jpg 

Work efficiently
Tim Prins says he experiences many benefits with the hooks from Magic Hooks. “Thanks to the shape of the Easyhook, we can hang the hooks in only 18 minutes in a long path, because the free fall works well. At the beginning of a bundle, the worker hangs the tail over the edge of the pipe rail car. With two hands, he can quickly hang hooks and continue working until the bundle is finished. Moreover, no waste falls to the ground.” Royal Brinkman also makes it possible to work with multiple colors of twine. Tim: “We chose to work with white and yellow twine to mark the plants. Thanks to the color combination, we have noticed that there are fewer mistakes made in the work of our employees.”

Tim Prins GreenValley and Martin Meuldijk Royal Brinkman.