Exceptional, but it can be done: growing yellow zucchini in open ground

In an interview with Nieuwe Oogst, Rob Beeren, a vegetable grower from Neer, talks about his approach to growing yellow zucchini in open fields. Not easy, but that makes it all the more interesting, according to Beeren.

First of all, yellow zucchini is a labour intensive plant. Beeren: 'Everything has to be done manually: planting, leading the plant up the rope and harvesting.' Also, there is increasing fusarium pressure due to climate change, which resulted in about 15% failures in 2019.

The latter Beeren solved by disinfecting the soil on the basis of deoxygenation. In addition, he is considering grafting the plants onto a rootstock or restoring the soil by growing string beans there.

With leaf sample analyses, moisture and temperature meters, he tailors watering, fertilization and pesticide use. "Getting the most out of a field with as little input as possible; that's my goal."

The grower has a total of 3.5 hectares of yellow zucchini, grown in plastic tunnels and foil greenhouses and outdoors under hail nets. The various cultivation methods make delivery possible from early May to mid-November.

More about Beeren's approach? Read the full article here >

Source: New Harvest