Hargreaves Plants plans to reduce picking costs with a new production method for misted-tip plants.
“Last October a carefully selected field was planted with Elite stock mother plants and then fleeced, solely for the production of early Elsanta Misted Tip plants, said sales manager Carl Wilson. “The results of these efforts are strong tips that will be ready for planting early July right through to early August.”
The innovation came as a means of improving class I gradeout and cutting down on misshapen fruit which in turn cuts picking costs.
“It has been widely proven in the past that misted-tip propagated Elsanta modules planted in July can give up to a 90 per cent class I pick the following year,” said Wilson. “With Class II being a product of the past, a 90 per cent pick has got to be an attractive solution. With this in mind, Hargreaves Plants have specially geared up to produce 1.5m Elsanta misted tip plants for planting this month.”
Hargreaves’s method differs from other means of production in that many growers and propagators have traditionally harvested tips from existing fruit plantations. This has sometimes led to reduced yield as each generation down the plant health chain results in a 10 per cent reduction in fruit size.
No comments yet