Helianthus 'Pro Cut Red/Lemon Bicolor'
Trial Started: 2005
Year of Trial: First (from 2005 report)
Good Qualities:
Unusual bicolor (4); Vivid contrast (3), much better than Pro Cut Bicolor, earlier than 'Florenza' and not multi-branching; It sold like hot cakes!; Plants were taller than 35 inches but that height worked best for cutting, awesome color combination that combines the ease of growing of the 'Pro Cut 'variety with a novelty color, we prefer the single stem sunflowers versus the branching sunflowers for cutting; Good for fall displays; This was the one variety in the trial this season that a customer made a point to tell me she really liked the variety and hoped I grew it again - she also said she had over a 7 day vase life; Uniform size, short harvest period; Nice 4-foot height, great one for fall; Customer favorite of sunflowers trialed; Sold for mostly 1.50 - 2.00 each, sold fast; Strong stem, multiflowers; Wasn't really my customers' favorite color but I thought it was a nice sunflower.
Problems:
Stems too thick (3); Too large head; Some weak necks; Corn borer beetle was a problem; Unstable stem post harvest; Poor height and size (too short to be useful), washed out colors, the "red" was a dusky purple/red; the "lemon" was a very light shade of maize yellow, not a knock-out!; Hard to keep up with bugs on sunflowers in our location without routine pesticide applications; Not too much demand; Held head down; Seed heads attract attention for possible birdfeeders, etc.; I did not get good performance from this variety;
Postharvest:
Pick when just opening. See separate postharvest report in this issue for results from NC State University postharvest evaluations.
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 | 1.4 | 38.3 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 109 | 8.9 |
| Range of Responses | 1-7 | 22-51 | 3-4 | 2-5 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 3-5 | 9-256 | 7-12 |
(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
SeedSense Ltd.
The Tithe Barn, Mundesley Rd.
Trunch, Norfolk HR28 0QB, England
www.creative corner.co.uk/seedsense/home.html
Comments:
Similar to 'Florenza' (2); Very tall, could cut much longer; Despite problems growing them, there is a big demand for locally grown sunflowers in our market, especially among upscale event florists; Seeded to a 128 cell flat on 4/24/05 before transplanting to the field, harvest interval was 7/4 - 7/10.