11
C
YCLAMENREVIEW
•
THECOMMERCIALGREENHOUSEGROWER • JANUARY 2017
V
arinova’s
trials – of over
300 varieties in 2016 –
can even be visitedby
growerswhodo not leave
their own nurseries for the
purpose. On thewebsite
varitrials.nl you can inspect on
the screen seven images of a
trials batch of each of the 300
varieties taken in each of the
week numbers 38 (late
September) to 44 (early
November). Better than that,
you can view the sets of
images of several varieties on
the screen together.
In the simple set-up
arrangements for viewing
Varinova’s trials, the first
decision is todecide on your
choice of nine production
categories – for example,
standard large-flowered or
mini-flowered for the
consumer’s outdoor use. The
midi-flowered category is sub-
divided into varieties trialled in
10.5cmpots and those in
12.0cm. Mini-flowered
varieties are likewise divided
into the 10.5cm and 9.0cm
groups.
As the selection of varieties
within each production
category is up to you, your
choicemay be to look at
different colourswithin the
same series, or at the same
colour in a number of series.
Differences in flowering time
are particularly easy to spot.
The trials feature almost all
colours in the full range of
Varinova series, from themini-
floweredPicola to the extra
largeMagnia. Among this
year’s introductions is the
midi-floweredMeritaShine
Red, the forerunner of a full
colour range in this new
series. Two recently
introduced series, Facila and
Contiga, have already arrived
at this stage in their
development.
For Varinova founder Bart
Kuijer and his long-standing
breeder, scrutinizing the
competition is a vital part of
remaining on topof the game.
Competitors’ series are
thereforewell represented
too, and are all grown under
identical conditions. Examples
includedSuper SerieAllure
andSuper Serie XL, from
SchoneveldBreeding, Sierra
Synchro fromSyngenta, and
Tianis fromMorel.
The four annual breeders’
cyclamen trials in the
Netherlands are open to
visitors inOctober and
November. It is quite
practicable for aBritish
grower to visit all four Dutch
trials in twodays. During this
period theRoyal FloraHolland
Fortunately for British cyclamen growers, keeping track of developments in breeding is
helped quite nicely by where theworld’smost useful trials are to be found, and by when
they are best visited. All four of the leading companies involvedwelcome their customers
to their variety trials in theNetherlands in autumn each year reports John Sutton.
keeping you on track of developments in breeding in cyclamen
MeritaShineRed, anewmidi-flowered variety from
Varinova.
An added value concept fromSyngenta: colourfulmixed
midi-floweredbowl .
