Callistephus 'Hulk'
Trial Started: 2005
Year of Trial: First (from 2005 report)
Good Qualities:
Great unusual color and texture (5); Green is "in" (2); Good germination (2); Grew fine; Large size bloom, green is a color neutral; Caught the customers' eyes; Great filler, "egg-y" look; I want to try it again; Grew well for a commonly problematic species; Easy to grow; nice contrast in bouquets, good stem strength; Many flowers per plant (although color was not good).
Problems:
Unattractive flowers (3); Poor germination (2); Hard to know when to cut (2); The thing we disliked the most about Hulk (and we were excited to try it) was that as the yellow disk flowers bloomed, they turned a dirty brown, so unless they were picked before any disk flowers bloomed out, we didn't really like them; For our field conditions, the green bracts that looked so big in the pictures were not very dramatic for us - I recently saw some in commercial bouquets at a store and this bract was very large, so I suspect for us to have better results we would need to grow in a hoophouse or greenhouse - we also didn't really like all the side stems, it slows down bunching to take them off and sort, consumers really didn't say anything about them, they didn't stand out; Have to cut young else the white turns a dirty- drab color too soon; Fusarium destroyed quality; Rust rendered most of the crop unsaleable. All bloomed at once; The spoonshaped bracts were wonderfully textural, but personally I think the center is not very attractive - almost like a genetic aberration! customers, who are mostly women, were turned off by the name 'Hulk,' so we renamed it OZ (for the "O" in center and green color) Aster; they liked this name much better!; Outer green petals around the flowers were not good (brownish); Plants died early, tragic victim of fusarium. Plants around it were unaffected, which is not good for 'Hulk', very susceptible to disease - it was in a fumigated area; Hated it, ugly; Clustered flowers on 1 stem - no cutting qualities; Brown center not acceptable; Very dull green color - "no curbside" appeal to the customer at all; Aster rust - dry year, I think decreased production.
Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating - Wholesale (1) | Market Appreciation Rating - Retail (1) | Market Appreciation Rating - Consumer (1) | Repeat Again Rating (2) | Ease of Cultivation Rating (2) | Average Spacing (in2) | Average Postharvest Life (days) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 3.8 | 16.1 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 147 | 7.0 |
| Range of Responses | 1-10 | 12-24 | 1-5 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 36-576 | 7 |
(1) 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
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Supplier
Benary Seed
1444 Larson St.
Sycamore, IL 60178
www.benary.com
Comments:
Great for mixes, not much customer interest; Seeded 4/4/05, planted 74 to the field, harvested from 60 plants, harvest interval 9/1 - 9/15; I did not find a whole lot about the 'Hulk' that would make me want to grow it again; Had great difficulty germinating; Grown asters for years in quantity without any seedling problems - these seeds and seedlings were different - more difficult to grow?; Some people liked, but most did not; Same color/contrast as 'Envy' zinnia as far as florist needs; The extreme heat and aster yellows prevented 'Hulk' from reaching its total size - there were 3 blooms on one of the plants but they had brown tips from the heat - however, there was great interest from florists in the product, some much that growers were buying the seed without waiting for our trial - the blooms are truly unusual and useful in modern design.