Alexandro Bock at the IPM Essen, Germany.
General demand for hibiscus
The market for outdoor plants has changed quite a lot over the years, due to the financial situation in countries like Russia. Therefore, we are dealing with a oversupply of plants on the European market. Fortunately, according to Bock, the hibiscus is not hit that hard as it is a late spring flowering plant with a long flowering period. "People are currently looking for good quality plants with good prices. Over the last few years, we even see that people are asking for the hibiscus as it flowers for a long time; it can flower all summer till September, October."
Change in demand for colors
However, the fact that the demand is steady and even increasing, does not mean that hibiscus breeders can lean back. The color preferences of the customers is changing continuously. "People are looking for new and modern varieties of this well-known plant. Bi-colors, yellow, orange and pink are increasing in sales. And of course it differs per country; red for example is highly popular in the Southern part of Europe and in Northern Europe it is more balanced. All in all, we can say that customers are looking for more vivid colors at the moment," says Bock.
New red variety
As So
uthern Europe is the main market of DIEM, they decided to add a strong red color to their assortment. "We were missing a real good red in our assortment. Therefore, we decided to focus on developing a real red hibiscus," says Bock. After several years of breeding, they are now able to put a new red hibiscus on the market; the Nona. This variety has a -as Bock calls it- Ferrari red color and flowers early. "It is part of our D-Tahiti line that is known for its early flowering." And Bock has high expectations of this plant. "We showed our colleagues, friends, growers and final customers the plants in the test programme and they valued the growing habits of the plant, the color and the flower size," he says. This variety will be available to the growers this summer. 
Breeding in Italy and Tahiti
The hibiscus varieties of DIEM are not only bred in Italy, but also in Tahiti "We decided to breed in Tahiti as the climate enables us to breed all year round. In Italy, the breeding gives good results only during the summer time." And using two locations has more advantages. "Two separate breeding processes enables us to have different crossing possibilities by using the same plants," he says. After a new variety is bred, they are being propagated in their 1,200 m2 sized rooting area in Italy. In total, they have 15,000 m2 greenhouse under production.
Increasing export markets
DIEM supplies rooted cuttings and young plants (14 and 17cm pots) to growers in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Holland, and Germany and are currently expanding their markets overseas. "From this year, we are starting to discuss the possibilities of potential partners in China, Korea and the USA. We will see how it will develop."
For more information
DIEM SRL
Alexandro Bock
Email: diemsrl@gmail.com
www.diemhibiscus.it