Rumba
Good fruit setting and early cropping
The plants start to flower early in the season, with 5 to 6 flowers per truss. The well-developed stamens produce an abundance of pollen, ensuring an excellent fruit set and virtually no misshapen fruits. The harvest season of Rumba starts 5 to 6 days before Sonata. Forcing outdoor-grown plants can shorten the onset of the harvest season by a further 4 to 7 days. The optimum harvest interval for Rumba is every 2 to 3 days.
Excellent fruit quality
Rumba strawberries are bright red and very shiny, even after a few days of storage. The fruits are very juicy, tasty and large, with a high average fruit weight. Even late in the season, the strawberries are of a good size. Distinctive characteristics that make Rumba strawberries very attractive to consumers are their high degree of uniformity and their shiny appearance.
Long, Uniform harvests
Rumba produces uniformly over a long period of time, without the peaks observed in other early varieties, resulting in higher yields for growers. The plants are compact, but also open, and their well-developed flower stems make it easy to pick the strawberries. Good fruit set means that little sorting is required.
Little risk of diseases
The crop is very vital, with little risk of diseases. While Honeoye is susceptible to leather rot (Phytophthora cactorum) and wilting (Verticillium dahliae), Rumba is rarely affected by either disease. Rumba is fairly resistant to powdery mildew (Podosphaera aphanis). Like other varieties, Rumba must be treated to prevent grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) and root rot (Rhizoctonia), but it is a lot less susceptible to grey mould than Clery.
Experiences
Rumba readily takes up nutrients, resulting in well-balanced plants with dark, glossy leaves. Excellent results have been obtained with Rumba in tunnel cultivation. Good ventilation and water management are important. The high cold requirement and good rain tolerance make Rumba very suitable for outdoor cultivation. The variety also tolerates frost fairly well, although it is advisable to cover the plants to protect them from frost, especially in the case of biennial crops. The flower trusses of Rumba are of sufficient length to offer easy picking without the disadvantage of decreased frost and rain protection during the flowering season. Rumba’s most important characteristic is its earliness, enabling you to sell attractive, shiny strawberries early in the season.
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