June 24, 2013, Leamington, Ont. – Close to 100 growers attended the annual De Ruiter Demo Days earlier this month.
June 24, 2013, Leamington, Ont. – Close to 100 growers gathered attended the annual De Ruiter Demo Days earlier this month.
De Ruiter Technology Development Representative Jeff Gilbert said the event generated a lot of interest in the current De Ruiter tomato portfolio and future pipeline.
“We showcased our newest varieties and gave growers a preview of our tomato pipeline, which is heavily focused on high production and quality as well as resistance to powdery mildew,” said Gilbert.
Among those products showcased were two recently commercialized tomato hybrids with Intermediate Resistance to powdery mildew: ‘Merlice’ and ‘Foronti.’
• ‘Merlice’ is a cluster hybrid tomato variety with large, round fruit. With very uniform jointless trusses, this variety has an excellent cluster presentation and easily lays flat in the box.
The high vigour of the variety combined with an excellent resistance package gives this variety very high yield potential.
‘Merlice’ has intermediate resistance to powdery mildew, making it a good option for growers with reduced spray programs.
• ‘Foronti’ maintains firmness in hot weather, performing well in areas with high light and hot summers.
Featuring high yield potential and high vigour, this strong-balanced beef tomato hybrid has a large leaf canopy and can have higher yield potential than ‘Big Dena.’
‘Foronti’s’ deep red fruit has the potential to ripen quickly and uniformly, and has a good shelf life.
New in tomato rootstock is DR0141TX, a vigorous, high yield potential variety for the high-tech glasshouse environment.
“We are also focusing more on niche markets, especially on grape and specialty tomatoes,” explained Gilbert.
From the pre-commercial pipeline were DR0603TC and DR4012TH. DR0603TC is a grape tomato with high yield potential, less fruit fall, good taste and optimal weight for the market. DR4012TH is a cluster hybrid tomato with high vigour, less light sensitivity than ‘Merlice’ as well as better colour and fruit size.
DR0603TC grape tomato (pictured below) grown by Jem D Farms was recently recognized as “best bite-size tomato” in REACH International’s seventh annual Greenhouse “Hottest Tomato” competition.
Print this page
