• The most popular strawberry variety for top quality fruit production in the UK

• Good yields of large, firm, glossy fruit

• A quality variety with excellent shelf life

• Elsanta is susceptible to some fungal diseases and therefore needs good management

• Recommended for both protected and open field production

• Number 1 choice for supermarkets and quality outlets

As the most widely grown commercial strawberry variety in Northern Europe, Elsanta is available in many different grades and sizes that are not available with lesser-grown varieties.
Listed here are some of the more desirable grades offered by Hargreaves Plants:

GRADED PLANTS

Used for 60 day production, these plants are strictly visually graded by the millimetere crown diameter. Grades available are 10-12mm, 12-15mm, 13mm plus and 15mm plus.

STRAWBERRY TRAY PLANTS FOR THE GLASSHOUSE 60 DAY SPECIALIST

Tray plants are handled within our specialist Cross Keys Nurseries division of Hargreaves Plants as well as contract production in the Netherlands.

Mother plants are grown specifically for the operation, providing tips for July. The plant material is given maximum attention to detail, with particular reference to fertiliser and trace elements throughout the growing season and of equal importance, prior to cold storeage. This system produces a high quality, well balanced plant for 60 day production.

FRESH WAITING BED PLANTS

The majority of our fresh waiting bed Elsanta plants are contract grown in the Netherlands by carefully chosen leading propagators.

Fresh Waiting Bed plants are the most succesful way of producing a high yielding 60 day crop. Class 1 percentages are maintained at the optimum level with the use of a balanced nutrition programme.

Plants are available at both heavy and medium grades. Choice of which grade of plant material to use is heavily dependant upon location and planting time, so please seek advice from one of our team prior to planting.

MISTED SUMMER FRUITING TIPS

Hargreaves Plants has been at the forefront of misted tip strawberry plant production for many years now. Ensuring a misted tip is planted before the middle of August is essential. Plants need to bulk up and form a large enough crown for flower initiation during the autumn months. Hargreaves Plants tries to dispatch 90% of the total tips produced before the 31st July with the remainder normally awaiting customer drawdown.

With this critical planting date in mind, mother plants are specifically planted to produce early tips. The plants are then fleeced in October to ensure that tips are struck at the correct times.