Calibrachoa Funtasticks in Hishtil's greenhouse in Israel.
Funtastick series
The high-stem Calibrachoa is Histil's latest introduction to their Funtastick series of high-stem grafted young plants that currently exists of a basil tree and ornamental pepper. It is a new patented technique on growing certain annuals on a grafted standard. This calibrachoa is created by grafting herbaceous ornamental Calibrachoa having a short height and bushy growth habit on a rootstock containing high-single stem. It is available in four colors (Mandarin, Red-Cherry, Yellow Chocolate Ring, and Real Red). There are two types of grafted cuttings supplied to different markets, grafted cuttings are supplied to the US and rooted grafted cuttings to Europe.
Eyal Klein in the greenhouse.
Grower's feedback
After becoming one of the Retailers’ Choice Awards winners at the Cultivate’17 that took place in Columbus Ohio last July, the demand for this calibrachoa increased sharply. Right after the show, US broker EHR started to trial the varieties and were pleased with the way the cuttings root, the way the plant grows and the cultivation requirements. In Europe, as well, growers - mainly bedding plant growers from origin - are trialing the plants and are pleased with the results so far.
"This calibrachoa requires a bit different attention than bedding plants", says Dr. Eyal Klein, R&D Manager at Hishtil. "The seedling is delicate, so pinching and trimming the plant needs to be done manually. However, we see that if the growers put their attention to the right points, they are succeeding and will get an impressive and unique plant."
Mother's Day 2018
In January, EHR will receive the first grafted cuttings and three of their young plant growers will root them, so they will be in time (week 8-10) for their growers to commercially grow them and have them ready for Mother's Day (Sunday May 13) 2018.
The experimental Funtastick Origanum that is currently being trialed by Hishtil.
Expanding assortment
The current calibrachoa assortment currently consists of four colors, but Hishtil's aim is to offer a series of 6 colors. Besides expanding this calibrachoa series, Hishtil is continuously working on expanding their Funtastick high-stem series. "We are trialing with several herbs on a stem, like mint and origanum. At the IPM Essen, that will take place from January 23-26 in Essen, Germany, we will show the first test varieties to gain feedback."
For more information
Hishtil
Eyal Klein
Email: kleine@hishtil.com
www.hishtil.com