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| Low Energy Poinsettia | |
| It is increasingly important to explore ways of reducing the energy input into greenhouse production of ornamentals. As part of a collaborative project between breeder and commercial grower, Agriom and Florema, a new range of Poinsettia varieties has been realized, called ‘Eco-Stars’. Financial support for this research was provided by the Dutch Commodity Board for Horticulture. The breeding objective is not just to create new varieties that grow and develop well at lower temperatures. These new varieties must also perform well at normal higher temperature regimes. This will allow a grower, at any given moment, to change between a high energy regime (20°C) and a low energy regime (17°C) in accordance with desired finishing times and relative energy costs. If a crop is growing too fast or the delivery date for a client is postponed, a grower can switch from a high energy to low energy regime as part of the overall crop management. Another reason that these new Poinsettia varieties must also perform well at the higher temperature regime is because growers will often have other crops in the same greenhouse block that require the higher energy regime. Development characteristics in Poinsettia most sensitive to lower temperatures are bract size and plant height; in all varieties tested, the bract size fell by up to 50% when cultivated at 17°C as opposed to 20°C. Plant height fell by up to 43%. In the new heat tollerant ‘Eco-Stars’, bract size fell by only 3% at the lower temperature regime. These varieties can be successfully grown at 15°C and research suggests that savings of up to 13-17m3 of gas/m2 greenhouse area can be achieved when compared to production at 20°C. The above breeding and selection work, has led to the introduction of Stargazer Red® in 2005. New releases for 2006 include Stargazer White® and Stargazer Marble®. Other varieties available from Florema that perform well at 15°C are: Alreddy Red®, Alreddy Fancy® (red bracts on ‘holly-type’ variegated leaves), Blizzard® (white-cream) and Estrella Red®. All varieties in the series have bracts that colour well, the foliage is dark green and plants have a short reaction time of 7-8 weeks. “FlowerTech” www.HortiWorld.nl For further information contact: Florema Young Plants B.V. Fax 0031 20456 26 66, E-mail: youngplants@florema.nl www.florema.nl |
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