Photo courtesy of Plantpeddler
On Thursday, December 2, Plantpeddler held their Poinsettia Variety Day with representatives from all commercial poinsettia breeders, broker representatives, and growers in attendance from 21 states and two European countries. Held in Northeast Iowa, Poinsettia Variety Day featured a trial of 175 commercial and pre-release poinsettia varieties. The trial was produced under natural season commercial sustainable production protocol using limited PGRs. In addition, Fantasy Colors paint guru Andrew Lee of Ball Horticultural demonstrated value-added poinsettia paint and upgrade treatments.
Genetics represented, were submitted by Beekenkamp, Dummen Orange, Lazzeri, Rinehart Poinsettias, Selecta, Suntory and Syngenta Flowers. Plantpeddler is licensed by all breeders represented and prides itself on being a one-stop shop for premium poinsettia liners. “With our leadership position in poinsettias, this investment is for our retailers, growers, brokers and breeding partners.” said Mike Gooder, president of Plantpeddler, as to why Plantpeddler conducts their poinsettia trial. Another commitment of Plantpeddler is to facilitate best practices in the horticulture industry.
As a true production trial, the tested varieties were grown within a block of benchmark commercial varieties with the same treatments and environmental conditions. This year, the fall production conditions were warmer and brighter than average. “The poinsettia trial and Variety Day event emphasizes our commitment to the industry by showcasing genetics under northern USA growing conditions,” Gooder said. “It is important to do a poinsettia production trial as a way for the industry and our growers to see how varieties perform in real world greenhouse conditions.”
Trial attendees voted using a three-flag system for “Best Red Variety” and “Best Non-Red Variety” with a 3, 2, 1 point scoring. The results are as follows:
