partner Michel de Winter, he is owner of Stargrowers: a modern company with an area of eight hectare. In the garden they work according to the clipping method. Frits finds many advantages in this and he explains these in magazine of Horticoop.
Clipping
Stargrowers started in 2009 with covering the coarse and generative variety Komeet. With this fruitful plant the weight of the stem becomes very high. This is costing a lot of energy of the plant and therefore Frits van Wijk changed in the beginning of 2010 to clipping. With this the stem is attached to a rope by means of a clip. When he changed in 2011 to the middle-size variety Capricia he continued to use this method.
Frits van Wijk: "The most important advantages of clipping are more growth of the plant and everybody is capable of clipping. When covering up the plant growth is delayed by a day, because the supply of food is less because of squeezing of the stem. Clipping on the other hand gives the plant more energy to keep out viruses, such as Botrytis. "Clipping makes it also possible that I can easily organise my glasshouse, because the plant grows steadily and the garden produces an equal amount of fruit" Frits adds. Clipping also shows a profit in time and labour. Previously the staff had with covering go through the glasshouse once a week, whilst with clipping once every ten days is sufficient.
This means that the growth of the plant can be kept up with by fewer people. In addition the staff when clipping is at an ideal thief- and pruning height and this is easy to combine. "When harvesting clipping also has an advantage" Ron Kleijn says.
"The bunches hang to one side, which makes cutting easy and cutting of the rope
is no problem. By sufficient clips the plant remains in place."
Frits van Wijk knows about two disadvantages compared to the covering up method. The harvesting knives are blunt quicker, because the plastic clips have to be cut as well and the cost of waste is slightly higher. The advantages of clipping certainly cancel this out and if a biodegradable clip comes on the market, then clipping in my opinion will be the future of the tomato cultivation. Frits is very happy with his present cultivation method. "I am happy to have chosen clipping; to go back to covering is no longer an option for me!"
Source: Magazine Blad, Horticoop