Recently Lefroy Valley hosted a hydroponic field day to display lettuce varieties for the whole head and salad cut market.

Drury Fresh kindly offered their facilities to host the event and customers came from businesses ranging from hydroponic growers, vertical farms and the Hort ITO. Lettuce varieties showcased included Cos, Oaks and Multileaf.

On top of the known Lefroy commercial varieties Thimble (Cos), Poplar and Juniper (Oak leaf whole head) and Multigreen 101 (Multileaf) there were many new lettuce types not seen in hydro before.

Above variety Poplar and below Red Epicure

In the Little Gem types the LEG 3221 is unique as it has an open shape with many narrow leaves and excellent vigour.  It will be very interesting to try this during the winter in a hydroponic system and may also work well when harvested smaller as a cut product. It had no tip burn during the period of high tip burn pressure. In addition, if you are looking for a smaller closed glossy Little Gem then along side Lefroy’s trusty Themes and LEG 1480, LEG 3309 stands out due to its glossy leaf and pretty head.

Above variety LEG 1480 and below LEG 3309 

Lefroy’s Oaks are very popular in hydro and the new lines LEL 3214 and LEL 3215 both were outstanding in volume, compact shape with no tip burn.

In the Multileaf segment Lefroy have a large range of colour and leaf types. LEM 3378 had wonderful triple red colour and good volume, and in the greens, a similar curly leaf type was displayed in LEM 3377. The spiky leaf types such as LEM 3210 and LEM 3208 had crispy leaves and good crunch.

Above variety LEM 3210 and below LEM 3377

It was a great event with many participants that could not join us in person, joining us through virtual meetings from throughout NZ.

For more information:

Paula O’Hanlon

Technical Sales Representative

Mobile: +64 21731009

Phone +64 (9) 238 3593

E mail: paulao@lefroyvalley.co.nz

www.lefroyvalley.co.nz