Gerbera Festival series

The Festival series is one of the most popular gerbera series on the market. Sakata’s series offers tried-and-true industry standards that the company is constantly refreshing and updating.

Part of the series’ popular appeal is in the options it offers. Flowers can be Dark-Eyed, Light-Eyed, Mini, Semi-Double or Spider (my favorite).

This year, Sakata is providing what marketing director Kathy Cron calls a “narrow and deep” view of the series by offering growers seven core colors in a selection. This grouping allows growers “to capture the essence of the series easily with a ready selection of prime colors,” Cron said.

The entire series has a tight flowering window across all colors so growers don’t have to hand-pick plants to ship. Germination and seedlings are also highly uniform.

Plants finish in 16-20 weeks, depending on light levels and growing conditions.

Optimum germination temperatures are 72°-77°. Growing temperatures should be 68°-70°.

Plants require high light levels (at least a 12-hour daylength).

Space plants pot tight for the first four to five weeks. Then, space plants depending on pot size, to allow light to reach the crown.

Plants do best in 4- to 6-inch pots.

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For more: Sakata Seed America, 18095 Serene Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037; (408) 778-7758; fax (408) 778-7768; www.sakata.com.

- Jyme Mariani