Open afternoon Dirk
Saturday, 7 July 2007
For those interested in Dirk, a presentation of the product was organised at the company Seasun of Jan and Wim Gresnigt on Thursday 5 July 2007. This company cultivates 9.5 hectares of this variety, grafted 1 on 1 onto Maxifort.
Dirk: well received
Dirk made a favourable impression this afternoon. The harvested truss made an attractive presentation. The truss of 6 fruits was well shaped and the fruits themselves were uniform in size, form and colour. Therefore, the seven trusses in de box, divided in 2 layers and separated by a protective sheet, just looked wonderful. Jan Gresnigt praised Dirk for its green parts that, like the tomatoes, retain their quality remarkably long. This has turned Dirk into a popular variety in the market. “The market is willing to pay a bit extra for this product”, said Gresnigt. The visitors of the open afternoon also greatly appreciated Dirk's flavour.
The crop at the Gresnigt company was now in perfect condition, but there have been some problems. A technical problem had caused a CO2 shortage for about 2 months resulting in a period of smaller fruits. Moreover, Dirk was struck by an aggressive variant of the Pepino Mosaic Virus this year. Thanks to its growing power, this variety recovered well, but it has shown some spots on the fruits for 2 weeks. However, the percentage of class 2 fruit in this period has been minimal since the fruits were harvested slightly more red. This is no problem with Dirk as the green parts also remain of great quality on the plant).
Dirk: productive and labour friendly
During the subsequent discussion the growers cultivating Dirk commercially or on trial exchanged experiences. It could be concluded that Dirk always has to be grown generatively. When the plant becomes too powerful, the flowers may become too vigorous developing outsized tomatoes easily. Furthermore, the side shoot (re)growth does not require a lot of work. Since side shoots do not develop easily, the plant has to be of great vigour about 2 weeks before growing the side shoot. This was especially necessary in January this year, when the light conditions were limited.
Until now, Dirk has produced an average quantity of about 25 kg/m2, with an average fruit weight of 125-130 grams. Dirk growers wish for summery weather soon as this variety is expected to distinguish itself even more under the warm conditions of summer. Experiences with Dirk elsewhere in Europe have also proven so. Dirk sets fruits very easily, even with temperatures of around 30 degrees for several days.
Gresnigt wants to continue cultivating Dirk until the third week of November. He hopes to realise a total yield of at least 60 kg/m2 this season, equal to last year's variety. Those present this open afternoon, left the company with a good impression of Dirk. They expressed the hope to evaluate Dirk again later this year, hopefully after a few weeks of warm, summery weather.