Eustoma 'Twinkle Blue'
Trial: Annual
Year Trialed: 2004
Year of Trial: First (from 2004 report)
Good Qualities:
Excellent deep color (5); Good branching; Like all lisi, has good vase life B I think I’d have better height growing another cultivar than twinkle; In the tunnel: single, most productive of the 5 varieties in the tunnel trial, early, 18 days earlier than Echo Champagne; Outdoors it was productive, along with Twinkle Pink, the earliest in this trial: first harvest on 7/20, vs 7/23 for Cinderella Blue (Zone 5); Consumers love this crop.
Problems:
No problems; People prefer doubles; Short for retail florist, good for sprays; Seeds came late, I think I would have done better with it if I had been able to get it out in the field earlier, would make better use of my space growing more doubles than this single; In the tunnel it had the shortest stems in trial, and postharvest problems; Shortest variety in trial outdoors; A very long crop to grow; temperature requirements for seedlings; staking necessary to guarantee good quality flower stem; short stem length.
Postharvest:
Sugar; In repeated informal trials on plants grown in tunnels, stems wilted in less than a week in water, but held up for 10-15 days in Aquaplus; As in the tunnel, this variety tends to wilt in less than one week in water, but holds up similarly to other varieties in Aquaplus (10-14 days).
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 (1) | Ease of Cultivation Rating (1) | Average Spacing (in2) | Average Postharvest Life (days) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 2.4 | 15.2 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 51 | 9.8 |
| Range of Responses | 1-5 | 11-28 | 3 | 1-4 | 2-5 | 1-4 | 1-5 | 4-144 | 5-17 |
(1) 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Supplier
Goldsmith Seeds
P.O. Box 1349
Gilroy CA 95021
Comments:
: Similar to Ventura, Malibu, or Laguna series; I guess I would have to compare it to some of the other singles like Malibu, Malibu has larger flowers, so I would probably go with Malibu; No disease problems; Support wire was necessary; this species was well received by our visitors; plants were not pinched when planted in the field.