The 2025 planting season for early potatoes is coming up! The Gecko is a machine specially developed by ROPA to minimize sprout breakage when planting pre-sprouted potatoes. This innovative solution sets new standards in the cultivation of early potatoes and ensures optimum conditions for growth.
Last season, we intensively studied how the laying technique affects the growth of early potato crops. Particularly noteworthy is the significant growth advantage of the potatoes planted with the Gecko. The innovative technology ensures that the machine is particularly gentle to sprouts when laying seed potatoes, which results in a higher yield.
ROPA Gecko in action
On March 20, 2024, we visited the farm of the Großhans family in Reilingen. They specialize in the production and packaging of vegetables, especially carrots. The product range also includes scallions and onions, radishes, parsnips, early potatoes and cereals. With approx. 1,000 hectares of farmland, around a quarter of which is cultivated according to organic standards, the enterprise is one of the most important growers of vegetables in Germany.
Visit to Großhans Gemüsebau where innovations perfectly support traditions
In the high season, Großhans Gemüsebau employs up to 800 people, including 75 permanent employees. Around 50 Fendt, Valtra and John Deere tractors are used for the field work. The enterprise values quality and sustainability particularly highly. The in-house washing and packaging facility enables fresh and direct packaging after harvesting, which reduces transport distances and emissions. Optimized logistics with the company's own fleet also ensure efficient planning of routes and optimal loading of the transport vehicles.
The company considers both ecological and social sustainability to be a central guiding principle. Regional production reduces transport routes and creates transparency and reliability between growers, buyers and consumers. All of the products grown by the enterprise are traceable and subject to regular quality controls that guarantee fair working conditions and high standards in production and management.
The ROPA Gecko ensures precision and efficiency in planting early potatoes
One of the biggest challenges when planting early potatoes is to prevent the sensitive sprouts from being damaged. The ROPA Gecko offers a customized solution unlike the conventional planting technologies that have their limits. The hand planter developed by ROPA in collaboration with Farmsupport combines a particularly gentle laying system with high performance and ergonomic working conditions for the staff.
Two workers per planting row carefully lay the pre-sprouted potatoes lengthways on special sprout-protective belts. In this way, the tubers are laid precisely in the soil without any rubbing contact. This technology allows planting of potatoes even with a length of up to 12 cm without any problems. The planting distance can be variably adjusted in 16 stages, and the planting performance can reach up to six hectares per eight-hour working day. Thanks to its drawbar steering, tramline control and proven mechanical drive, the Gecko offers high flexibility and efficiency.
Pre-sprouted early potatoes for higher yields
At Großhans, more than 80 hectares of early potatoes are planted. Before planting, the seed potatoes run through a special pre-sprouting program, which is crucial for later yield. Markus Unger of farmsupport explains: "The potatoes are stored in special pre-sprouting boxes in a maximum of two layers. Optimal ventilation, little shadowing and temperatures between four and ten degrees Celsius are essential here. To guarantee even lighting, we use 360° LED lamps."
farmsupport's pre-sprouting boxes
Seed potatoes during the pre-sprouting program
Pre-sprouted potatoes on planting day
Pre-sprouted early potatoes - planting with the Gecko
The operation's first early potatoes for 2024 were planted on February 14. Then the ridges are turned and covered with fleece and film. At the beginning of June, the Colomba tubers were ready for harvest. In comparison, Dennis Großhans and his partner Tanita planted some of the early potatoes with a customary planter.
The result on 3/20/2024
During our visit in mid-March, the difference was clear: The potatoes planted with the Gecko were already approx. 20 cm high, while those planted with the customary technique were half as high. Even at this point, a significant yield benefit with the Gecko could be predicted.
Conclusion – future-oriented potato planting with ROPA
The results speak for themselves: the ROPA Gecko offers a gentle, efficient and yield-increasing solution for early potato planting. Thanks to its precise planting technique, it spares the sensitive sprouts and ensures even stocks with a clear growth advantage.
The family-owned operation Gemüsebau Großhans combines tradition and state-of-the-art technology and shows impressively how sustainable and efficient agriculture works in practice. The ROPA Gecko is a big step toward future-oriented early potato production!
See for yourself in the coming season and follow the entire planting process and the vegetation development of the early potatoes until they are harvested.
Our ROPA representatives and sales partners will be happy to advise you. If you have additional questions about early potato planting, give our expert Markus Unger of farmsupport a call at +49 157 75067659.