Abbey View Produce (AVP) has cut what it believes to be the first cucumbers of the season grown without artificial light this week. The cues came from Nick Giardina's Ashfield Nursery on Tuesday morning and were closely followed by a batch from Franco Pullara Coronation Nursery in the afternoon. Both nurseries are in the Lea Valley on the Herts-Essex border.
"This is slightly earlier than usual as growers planted a week earlier than usual on December 27-28," said Gill Wardell, technical manager at AVP. "Light levels have been pretty good and one of our growers has a removable screen so as well as conserving heat, it can be moved back automatically by a computer in order to have the benefit of light levels too."
Wardell predicts that the crop will get earlier year on year as growers building new glass will invest in such retractable screens and even lighting systems.
No comments yet