I wanted to make a quick amendment to my post about the status of the multi-cut liners for next season. Previously I stated that the Syngenta Kwik Kombos and Selecta Trixi liners were business as usual, but I have now learned today that the Dummen Utility patent has forced some changes to the Trixi Liners, that actually is a great improvement for that program.
In order to not be affected by the patent, the Trixi Liner is now individually stuck in a mono-culture tray, then combined of week 3 in to a 50 cell tray and then finished in the production tray for 3 more weeks before shipped to a rooted customers.
What this means is no misses in a 50 liner (1 item dies in production), better and faster rooting due to the smaller initial cell size, and lastly each species can be treated early in production based on its specific needs. All three of those will make a superior product to last years Trixi Liners.
This technology and process will also be utilized in the new Ball FloraPlant MixMaster program that will include all the great BFP breeding lines.
I will update with pictures later.
P.S. Beautiful here today again.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Multi-cut programs
I thought it would be interesting to note that since the Dummen Confetti Liner Utility Patent, some suppliers have changed their tune.
For those not aware of that Patent, it states that no supplier can sell a liner with multiple species cuttings in the same cell without paying a royalty to Dummen.
While the Selecta Trixi liner and Syngenta Kwik Kombo programs are business as usually, smaller breeders like Fides are making it a point out to customers that their mix programs are only recipe ideas and in no way are they promoting the sticking multiple cuttings in the same cell during production.... interesting.
I am not sure of the outcome of this patent on our industry, but we should find out this year.
For those not aware of that Patent, it states that no supplier can sell a liner with multiple species cuttings in the same cell without paying a royalty to Dummen.
While the Selecta Trixi liner and Syngenta Kwik Kombo programs are business as usually, smaller breeders like Fides are making it a point out to customers that their mix programs are only recipe ideas and in no way are they promoting the sticking multiple cuttings in the same cell during production.... interesting.
I am not sure of the outcome of this patent on our industry, but we should find out this year.
Ball Seed
Ball Seed- This is day one of our two day stop. Of course I may seem biased, but please believe me that the Ball stop in Santa Paula is beautiful in plant quality and layout, and my favorite stop for a eighth year in a row.
This is a huge stop representing the following programs: Ball FloraPlant, Selecta, PanAmerican Seed, Keift, Burpee Home Gardens, Ball Ingenuity and Ball Ornamental.
Tomorrow we will go in depth with product training but today was more of a quick overview. One of the biggest new launches is the addition of Flowers to the Burpee Home Garden program. My day 4 post will go in to more detail as I learn more too.
This is a huge stop representing the following programs: Ball FloraPlant, Selecta, PanAmerican Seed, Keift, Burpee Home Gardens, Ball Ingenuity and Ball Ornamental.
Tomorrow we will go in depth with product training but today was more of a quick overview. One of the biggest new launches is the addition of Flowers to the Burpee Home Garden program. My day 4 post will go in to more detail as I learn more too.
Fides
Fides- A new stop for us a few years back and it continues to put out a few new exciting intros each year. As I stated in our Oro visit, Fides purchased Oro and the Fides production will be moving to the Oro facility. We have been assured that top Oro management has been retained to make this a smooth transition.
Petunia Fortunia Purple Heart -This new addition to the Fortunia series caught every ones attention as we walked through the door. I have been seeing an increased interest in the last two years of veined vegetative petunias, especially in the use of combos. This color is more intense than Daddy Sugar and more purple/lavender that Bordeaux. Long story short- Very impressive color. Please remember that the Fortunia series is not a trailing petunia, it has more standard blood in its veins(sorry for the pun), that means it is upright mounding. It will cascade but don't expect much trailing. With the popularity of Bordeaux this could be an exciting intro.
Petunia Fortunia Purple Heart -This new addition to the Fortunia series caught every ones attention as we walked through the door. I have been seeing an increased interest in the last two years of veined vegetative petunias, especially in the use of combos. This color is more intense than Daddy Sugar and more purple/lavender that Bordeaux. Long story short- Very impressive color. Please remember that the Fortunia series is not a trailing petunia, it has more standard blood in its veins(sorry for the pun), that means it is upright mounding. It will cascade but don't expect much trailing. With the popularity of Bordeaux this could be an exciting intro.
Growlink
The Growlink stop was very well grown, but there really wasn't anything new to speak of. The mum trial was well grown and I took notes, but I always wait till I talk to Ed Higgings before I recommend anything. Ed is the Mum Master, and his word is golden. Trust his integrity and vast knowledge of mums when he makes his recommendations in the Ball Mum catalog and his 3 breeder Mum Grid, which is essential when creating a mum program.
Food: Barbecued Tri-Tip, potato salad.
Food: Barbecued Tri-Tip, potato salad.
Floranova
Floranova- A breeder from across the pond continues to become more relevant in new introductions each year. They were the first to focus the industry on the promotion of vegetables in containers and this year the have added some fun new items to their collection.
Tomato Cherry Falls- Floranova is the breeder of the Tumbling Tom series and this new line of the Falls are trailing as well, but the size and quantity of the tomatoes are both significantly increased. Fruits are ~1.25" in size. I snuck a sample and it was very tasty.
Tomato Sunset Falls- This will be a Ball Seed Exclusive. This is different that the other new trailing intro of trailing tomatoes, Sunset Falls has more of a plum shape and has a very cool yellowish/ orange vertical striping of the skin. The color pattern gives it the look of the heirloom variety, Red Zebra, but with all the benefits of a hybrid, plus it trails! It looks to have less fruit than the abundance that Cherry Falls has, but the striping pattern makes up for any loss in production. I know there is a sign that tells you explicitly not to eat, but that is like telling me not to breathe... I snuck another sample, and it too was tasty,
Tomato Mega Bite- This was a last year intro for a 2" determinant growth tomato. Perfect for 12-14" containers. Plus they were promoting customers to sample this one, so I felt obliged to try this :) Nice flavor, very meaty flesh with not to much seed juice.
Pepper Basket of Fire- This is the first trailing chili pepper. Along with the culinary use of this variety the peppers change color while maturing, so you get a great basket of 4-5 different colors. Floranova introduced 2 other trailing peppers this year, but this was the most interesting. Did not sample this. I like spicy Indian and Thai food, but can't handle hot peppers by themselves.
Corn Field of Dreams- This was a late intro this winter and seed is available to ship and there is plenty of time for a crop of this due to is super fast grow time. 1 seed per 4", 3 seed per gallon. The corn has a variegated green/white/pink leaves, and the tassels and corn are a dark burgundy. The height an growth is reminiscent of the original Purple Majesty Millet (4'-6' garden height). This is a good large combo item or use as a height element in a landscape bed.
Now that I am finished blogging about the Floranova stop, I am shocked that the ratio of the square foot of the display greenhouse we toured and the size of my post. You could attribute this depth to my love of food, but it is also fun to see new innovative products, and Floranova had a lot of them.
Food: 1 Cherry Falls Tomato, 1 Sunset Falls Tomato, 1 Mega Bite Tomato & some salsa made from their assortment of vegetables.
Tomato Cherry Falls- Floranova is the breeder of the Tumbling Tom series and this new line of the Falls are trailing as well, but the size and quantity of the tomatoes are both significantly increased. Fruits are ~1.25" in size. I snuck a sample and it was very tasty.
Tomato Sunset Falls- This will be a Ball Seed Exclusive. This is different that the other new trailing intro of trailing tomatoes, Sunset Falls has more of a plum shape and has a very cool yellowish/ orange vertical striping of the skin. The color pattern gives it the look of the heirloom variety, Red Zebra, but with all the benefits of a hybrid, plus it trails! It looks to have less fruit than the abundance that Cherry Falls has, but the striping pattern makes up for any loss in production. I know there is a sign that tells you explicitly not to eat, but that is like telling me not to breathe... I snuck another sample, and it too was tasty,
Tomato Mega Bite- This was a last year intro for a 2" determinant growth tomato. Perfect for 12-14" containers. Plus they were promoting customers to sample this one, so I felt obliged to try this :) Nice flavor, very meaty flesh with not to much seed juice.
Pepper Basket of Fire- This is the first trailing chili pepper. Along with the culinary use of this variety the peppers change color while maturing, so you get a great basket of 4-5 different colors. Floranova introduced 2 other trailing peppers this year, but this was the most interesting. Did not sample this. I like spicy Indian and Thai food, but can't handle hot peppers by themselves.
Corn Field of Dreams- This was a late intro this winter and seed is available to ship and there is plenty of time for a crop of this due to is super fast grow time. 1 seed per 4", 3 seed per gallon. The corn has a variegated green/white/pink leaves, and the tassels and corn are a dark burgundy. The height an growth is reminiscent of the original Purple Majesty Millet (4'-6' garden height). This is a good large combo item or use as a height element in a landscape bed.
Now that I am finished blogging about the Floranova stop, I am shocked that the ratio of the square foot of the display greenhouse we toured and the size of my post. You could attribute this depth to my love of food, but it is also fun to see new innovative products, and Floranova had a lot of them.
Food: 1 Cherry Falls Tomato, 1 Sunset Falls Tomato, 1 Mega Bite Tomato & some salsa made from their assortment of vegetables.
Day 3
Day 3 starts early and another great day of weather awaits. We have four stops going from Pismo Beach down to Santa Paula.
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