"The growers who come here see a system that they also use themselves"

At De Ruiter, comparing crop performance is a key part of variety development. In its experience center, a wide range of tomato and cucumber varieties are grown under the same conditions, enabling growers to evaluate differences in growth, yield and plant behavior. To support these variety trials, structured and reliable crop data is essential.

To better organize and interpret this data, De Ruiter selected LetsGrow.com as its greenhouse data platform. Because the system is also used by many growers, visiting customers recognize the way data is presented and can interpret it in a familiar context.

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"The growers who come here see a system that they also use themselves. They see the data points that they collect, and that gives them confidence that what we do is consistent with practice," says John van der Knaap, Operational lead at De Ruiter Experience Center.

By combining daily plant measurements with ongoing data analysis, De Ruiter gains insight into how different varieties develop over time. This includes aspects such as growth balance, flowering development and crop behavior. Collecting and structuring this level of data across many varieties would otherwise be difficult to manage and compare consistently.

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An important part of the process is benchmarking new varieties against established standards. By comparing performance over longer periods, De Ruiter can better understand positioning and support cultivation strategies with data collected throughout the season.

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André Schaap, Market Development Representative at De Ruiter Seeds, shares: "For us, it's particularly important that we can compare new varieties against the standard varieties we've had for years, so we know how to position them and support cultivation strategies with reliable figures."

Using the LetsGrow.com app in the greenhouse, plant data is recorded directly during daily crop work. This supports consistent data collection across multiple varieties and contributes to a more data-driven approach to variety trials and grower advisory.