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Guy Keeble, Royal De Ruiter East Africa

"Increasing demand for low altitude rose varieties"

Long stems and large head sizes can only grow on high altitude farms, right? Not anymore. Rose breeder Royal De Ruiter East Africa developed a series of T-Hybrid roses that enables growers below 2,000 meters to cultivate these larger roses too. And the demand for these kind of roses is increasing. "Low altitude growers feel they need to differentiate themselves from the competition. Larger head size, longer stem lengths, good shelf life and production figures are sought after attributes," says Guy Keeble of Royal De Ruiter East Africa.


Selection process

Low altitude T-Hybrid varieties
Royal De Ruiter East Africa launched their first low altitude T-Hybrid rose variety on the market a couple of years ago, and they received great interest from the low altitude growers. Since then, this rose breeder has started to spend more effort on capitalizing its low altitude T-Hybrid genetics. Now, they have 9 varieties that satisfy the needs of the growers with a farm below 2,000 meters. The assortment currently consists of 9 varieties.



One of the priority genetics of Royal De Ruiter East Africa is the Kamala. According to Keeble, the Red Kamala is known for its strong red color. "It has a stem length of 80-100cm, good opening characteristics, strong guard petals, 5.5-6cm head size, 14-16 days vase life and a 200-220 m2 production at an altitude of 1,800 meters."

Large interest Naivasha Horticultural Fair
Also at the Naivasha Horticultural Fair, that took place last week in Kenya, the low altitude varieties attracted the attention of many low altitude growers. "It was a very good show and we even won the best stand 2016."


The booth of Royal De Ruiter East Africa at the Naivasha Horticultural Fair

More varieties to come
Just like the low altitude varieties, Royal De Ruiter is always trying to breed the varieties that will satisfy the needs of their growers and fit the current trends. "The garden shaped varieties for example are trendy and therefore in high demand at the moment. So, we decided to introduce a full portfolio of these varieties." And there are more varieties in the pipeline. Some of these will roll out during the IFTF show in Vijfhuizen, the Netherlands, in November.

For more information
Royal De Ruiter
Guy Keeble
Email: [email protected]
www.deruiter.com