Ron Moes, manager at Windset Greenhouses:
“Curtis RZ is strong but generative – necessary traits for high wire production”

“For the past three years, we have been growing Curtis RZ at our greenhouse not far from Vancouver,” says Ron Moes. “For the past two seasons, we have also been trialling Curtis RZ at our US location near Las Vegas, Nevada.”

Different locations, different climate, British Columbia and Nevada have vastly different climate conditions, requiring variations in Moes’ treatment of Curtis. “The
average summer temperature at our Canadian location is 22˚C; in Las Vegas, temperatures can rise as high as 45˚C. As a result, we start watering in Las Vegas earlier in the morning and stop watering later in the day. We also have a limited night-watering regime in Vegas, which we do not do in Delta.” EC readings also differ slightly in both locations – between 1.8 and 2.0 in Las Vegas and around 2.3 in Canada.

Strong and consistent
Moes says that Curtis produces a medium to large fruit, with very uniform quality and excellent colour. “In Canada, the plant tends to be more vegetative and not as naturally generative as in Vegas, as the climate in Delta is milder. The advantage of Curtis is that it maintains a consistent fruit length throughout
the season, which is important when marketing the fruit to our customers.”

Las Vegas Area: Sowing date: Planting date: Growing medium: Plant density: Yield this planting to week 29:	12 acres 11 April 10 May Coco fibre 2.8 plants/m2 42 cucumbers/m2
Delta Area: Sowing date: Planting date: Growing medium: Plant density: Yield this planting to week 29:	15 acres cucumbers 5 May 3 June coco fibre 2.6 plants/m2 28 cucumbers/m

Seeds & Services Canada, september 2008