Cultivars

The season typically starts at the beginning af March with Lambada strawberries. The main cultivar in Veiling Hoogstraten is still Elsanta. For 2007, 75% of the total cultivated area in the spring and 99% for the delayed cultivation is of the Elsanta cultivar. The remaining 25% of spring crops is made up of Darselect and to a lesser extent of Sonata (early pole cultivation). Darselect is mainly planted in the high tunnels and is mainly cultivated during the month of May.

New cultivars in 2007 for Veiling Hoogstraten include the Figaro and Charlotte varieties, which have been planted or will be planted for test purposes. Figaro, which is cultivated in the open field, will be produced during the summer months. Charlotte, a perpetual fruiting strawberry, is expected to be in production from June to October as protected rack cultivation.

Elsanta is the standard cultivar used in Belgium and the Netherlands. Elsanta has a red conic shape with a small calyx. The Elsanta is a very tasty strawberry; while its plants have a high yield, the percentage of deformed fruit is higher than in Sonata, especially in an early spring harvest. Elsanta is one of the best-performing cultivars as regards shelf life, taste and firmness.

Sonata is a strawberry cultivar, which was selected by the PRI from a cross of Elsanta and Polka. Sonata has an orange-red conic shape with a small calyx. Its fruit is rather sweet with great flavour. The plant typically has a hairy stem and flower stalks and plant development is somewhat denser. Sonata is very productive; the percentage of deformed fruit is minimal. The fruit is easily bruised. Sonata's crops are a little later than Elsanta.

Figaro is a cultivar selected by Freshforward. Figaro yield large, big orange-red strawberries with a large calyx. These strawberries are clearly larger than Elsanta and Sonata strawberries. The plants sometimes bear hollow fruit. This cultivar is less productive than Elsanta and Sonata; its fruit is firm.

Darselect is a cultivar selected by Darbonne. The fruit's shape can be compared to that of Elsanta, but is somewhat more elongated. The calyx is more voluminous but tends to wither rapidly when grown on poles. The fruit itself tends to darken and tarnish rapidly under warm conditions and is more readily bruised than Elsanta, but less than Sonata. The Darselect strawberries have a good, sweet flavour. The yield is lower than that of Elsanta (higher than that of Lambada). Crops are earlier than Elsanta, less early than Lambada. The plant is open, with few leaves. During intense heating this can leave the impression of a thin plant with bad growth.

Lambada was selected by the PRI. The fruit has a more elongated shape, sometimes with narrow shoulders. The seed are set deep in the fruit. The colour tends to be orange-red. The fruit can be soft, but is packed with good flavour. Productivity is average. This cultivar is well suited for very early production (7-10 days earlier than Darselect and Elsanta) because it ripens well early.