For over 15 years now, Israeli cyclamen breeders Gideon Scovel and Amir Drori of Décor Cyclamen Breeding, is focusing on breeding outdoor cyclamen that are suitable for the hot and dry Mediterranean climates. A key focus area for a breeding program to succeed is to get a wide range of growers to experiment, grow and give feedback to the breeders. As the growers are a step away from the end customer, it was essential for Amir to experiment his seeds with his brother Eyal Drori, Eyal is a well-known cyclamen grower in the Israeli village of Shedma and the majority of his cyclamen are sold for outdoor gardening. Eyal is very selective in his choices, sources his seeds from distinguished breeders, and that is why it took Amir several years to convince his brother to trial his varieties.
For four years now, he experiments them in the part of the nursery with the most rough conditions, to ensure their resistance. Eyal placed the experimental varieties at the outer part of the tunnel and so far, the results are promising. The Décor Cyclamen Breeding varieties that are named Cella are not commercial yet, but Amir Drori is proud that they have been already presented at the Hishtil Cyclamen Open Day that took place on January 10th alongside Morel diffusion and Schoneveld Breeding’s cyclamen’s varieties.
In this video below, Amir pays a visit to the nursery of his brother where he explains the difference between breeding indoor flowering pot plants and outdoor flowering pot plants, the aim of their breeding program. Also, he asks Eyal about his experiences with the varieties and they take a look at different varieties that the grower is trialing in the nursery.
Difference between breeding indoor and outdoor cyclamen
The breeding program of Décor Cyclamen Breeding intends to breed cyclamen for hot climate countries such as Southern Europe, the North coast of Afirca and the hot states in the US. According to Amir, there is a big difference between breeding indoor or outdoor cyclamen. Outdoor cyclamen need to be resistant to more rough weather conditions. “Besides being resistant to the heat, the plants also need to be resistant to rain, coldness and frost. This means that the plant cannot have too many leaves and cannot be too compact because it will prevent them to quickly dry after a rain shower. So, if they remain wet, they will have a lot of botrytis in the heart of the plant and resulting in a plant that is rotting from the inside out.” So, the plant should not have much leaves inside to enable good ventilation, but it needs to have enough to create a visual green carpet, he explains. “And regarding the flowers, they should not only be in the middle but spread all over the plant.”
Grower’s experience
Eyal is growing cyclamen for nearly 40 years now and is has become a well-known grower in Israel. Eyal is very selective in his choices, sources his seeds from distinguished breeders, and that is why it took Amir several years to convince his brother to trial his varieties. He started trialing the cyclamen of Décor Cyclamen Breeding and last year he decided to trial 1000 of their seeds. “I’m always interested in growing new varieties if I can reduce losses and if I can make better profits with putting less effort in growing them. However, I want to grow and sell good varieties, because when I don’t it affects my reputation and therefore the ability to sell them again because the cyclamen market is hard. For this reason, I experiment with new varieties in the toughest conditions.”
So, Eyal placed the varieties of Décor Cyclamen Breeding in the part of the nursery with the toughest conditions; the outer part of the tunnel. “In this part, there is less shade, so radiation and temperatures are high.” So, what’s his opinion about the varieties trialed? “They withstood all the conditions as well as the different harmful insects. The flower and the leaves are strong and almost as in nature”
Not commercial yet
The Cella varieties of Décor Cyclamen Breeding are not commercial yet. “Maybe next year, we will have commercial varieties, but till then, growers can request free samples to of the Cella experimental varieties.”
Hishtil Open Days
On January 10th, Hishtil organized a Cyclamen Open Day and together with other large cyclamen breeders like Morel Diffusion and Schoneveld Breeding, Décor Cyclamen Breeding was one of the breeders to present their varieties as well. “I’m very proud to show my varieties alongside these large breeders”, he says. In the video below, the varieties of Décor breeding during the Open Cyclamen Day at Hishtil , Israel.
For more information
Decor Breeding
Email: cyclamendecor@gmail.com
www.decorbreeding.com