In the picture: Christo Viljoen (left), Reinhart Viljoen (middle) and Francois Mostert (right).
One of Defender’s best qualities is that you can plant it all year round and still produce a top quality product. Defender’s unique leaf formation allows the excess water to drain away from the plant which means good field tolerance against black rot.
Hygrotech had a successful farmers day in Lydenburg, where we had Defender F1 cabbage (Planted 01/12/2021 to 02/22/2022) standing out and attracting a lot of attention. Defender F1 stood out from other cabbages from participating companies. Amongst the trials with 7 different companies, Defender F1 drew most attention and out performing standard varieties.
Christo Viljoen and his brother Jaco Viljoen made this day possible by giving all farmers top quality plants to have a look at. We had a lot of farmers asking questions about Defender F1 and they were very impressed with the variety.
Defender F1 Cabbage Specifications:
- Maturity 110 – 120 days after transplant
- Avg. head weight 4,5 – 6.5kg
- Excellent quality fruits
- Fresh market
- All year round, with shoulder sowing the best option
- Good frame
- Good firmness
Defender F1 (planted 04/01/2022 – 05/04/2022)
In the next picture you can see that the core is about one third of the cabbage head which indicates that a producer will get a long held storage time of about 100 – 120 days on the field without the cabbage bursting. The result is that the grower has more time to wait for the right price and marketing slot.
This picture was taken at 90 days as you can see that the head is still soft and already 4,8kg but already marketable, ideal would be to start cutting Defender F1 at a 100 days in summer.
Defender F1 versus Standard
Written by Francois Mostert – Nelspruit.
