An +8.5% lettuce yield uplift at the UK Agri-Tech Centre
+8.5%
+23.2g
750
Trial Summary
The UK Agri-Tech Centre evaluated Overture® A in hydroponic lettuce in its research greenhouse. Verdagio (Syngenta) lettuce was propagated in peat, then transplanted into deep water culture ponds and grown to full head weight.
Overture® A was applied twice: first onto the seeds at sowing, then sprayed onto the plants 21 days later at the same dose per plant. Treated and untreated plants were grown alongside one another across thirty ponds under identical conditions, with five ponds per treatment and 25 plants per pond. At harvest, 44 days after sowing, the trial centre weighed every one of the 750 plants individually.
“The results from these commercial trials showed multiple promising candidate products which improved plant growth in terms of size, fresh weight and dry weight yield, compared with a control.”
Conclusions
Overture® A significantly increased mean fresh head weight by +8.5% compared with untreated plants, from 274.2 g to 297.4 g per head.
This difference became visible early in the trial, showing that Overture® A treated plants were growing faster. Every plant was scored for size 29 days after sowing, about a week after transplanting into the ponds. Overture® A plants scored +24% higher on size compared to untreated plants.
Overture® A also gave a more even crop by helping struggling plants. At harvest, 86% of treated heads weighed 250 g or more, against 70% of untreated heads, and the share of heads at 300 g or more rose from 32% to 48% compared to untreated plants. Foliar nutrient levels were comparable to untreated plants.
For growers selling by weight, this translates directly into the bottom line. For whole head growers, the increase (about +23 g per head) would likely move part of the crop into the next commercial weight class, converting into more saleable weight from the same growing space and the same cycle length.
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