Variety traits are really coming to the fore after the nice days we have had. Whereas Stayer RZ gives the fruits priority Inzell RZ, on the other hand, is showing a thicker head. This requires different growing techniques straightaway.
With Stayer we prefer not to rise above 25°C in the afternoon, while Inzell likes to have a few more degrees. Stayer seems to want to grow because the leaves in the head are so large, but just take a good look at sideshoot development. Inzell really keeps popping there with growth. If you don't see that in your Inzell crop then you are on the right track as far as growth is concerned.
So for Inzell on sunny days: 17-19-21°C  +5 and for Stayer 19-21°C  +2, always keeping an eye on crop condition. You will then also notice that Inzell may be given another day of speed after a sunny period, whereas Stayer should immediately be reined back in temperature.
As for watering, there is also a clear dividing line between the two varieties: if necessary, you can stop watering a touch earlier in the afternoon in an Inzell crop than in a Stayer crop in order to steer generatively. A Stayer crop with too little growth just loves getting a night watering round! Do not take this to extremes, though; it is still very early in the season.

Interview with a Stayer RZ grower
On the Refresh Nurseries in Strijen, Stayer RZ is grown for the second year this season. On 9 February we spoke with Edwin Kleijwegt.

General Information

Why did you choose Stayer RZ again?
Following a trial in 2009 we already grew it large-scale last year and we liked it very much. Due to circumstances at that time we did sow a little later (14 November) and we did not fully benefit from the good prices that year. That's why we started sowing earlier, so that we made better use of the earliness of Stayer.

What other earlier experiences were useful to you?
From the 2009 trial we know that Stayer should not be sown too early. The sowing date then was 15 October and you could tell that, because of its sensitivity to light, Stayer needs to put a little more effort into getting 3 uniform stems. We did manage to get them this time, although one trait of Stayer is that the leaves in the head are fairly large and that, because of this, one of the stems can start lagging behind a little easily. Once we had the three stems, therefore, we fairly soon afterwards did a few rounds  around the crop to take those large leaves out, where necessary. to balance things out, Stayer does not give much topping to do, due to its generativity, so that does make it labour-friendly. We are now also growing a competitor's variety among the Rijk Zwaan crop and the difference is very obvious: that variety does need topping very badly.

What is fruit set like?
The first peppers are mainly in the third axil and we are keeping a maximum of 1 pepper per branch. After the first fruit we leave the next two axils empty so as not to give the plant too heavy a fruit load. Next week we'll do a round of thinning out.

What are the temperature set points?
For the past few weeks we've had the temperature set points at 19/21°C; even during the period when we wanted fruit set there was no need for a pre-midnight. End April we will be applying Reduheat again and that will stay in place until end August. We do that to keep the heat out of the house as much as we can, not least because the ridge orientation runs east-west on our nursery which means that 'burnt shoulders' are a real risk. Last year, our first year with Stayer, we did this as well and it worked very satisfactorily. And now that we know Stayer a little bit better we won't be growing it so very differently from the way we did last year.