Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2006
Good Qualities
Great color (2); An odd but interesting color – not so great on its own (a mix of pale green/yellow/rose) but nice mixed with burgundies, rose, and other (solid) colors; Beautiful stem color, 8/28 – heads forming stems currently 15 inches, 9/16 – Sold 18 inch heads for $1.50 in Portland; Fast to bloom, uniform plant blooms; There aren’t any!; Nice stem length, popular with florists; It’s a nice celosia and its great in the greenhouse but for the price of the seed, my customers really prefer ‘Chief’ celosia, I would have to charge more for the ‘Bombay’ to make money and compared to the ‘Chief’, its just not as profitable.Problems
Thick stems (2); Too short (2); Poor germination in greenhouse plug-flats, not terribly prolific in field, so-so customer interest ; Not very pretty; Some deformed heads, doesn’t appear to be insect or pest damage, color is very subtle and easily lost in bouquets, single stem sales most $1.50 stem in Portland; Started seeds about month earlier before planting in the tunnel that has heat, the greenhouse did not seem too cold for celosia but now I believe this was the problem causing very short plants and one flower; Minimal rose-pink coloration in field production, unattractive leaves; Color was pale, not attractive; Should have netted to prevent plants from falling over; Very few useable stems per plot, most plants had a misshapen comb, in some cases reduced to nubbins, in others, the comb was distorted in shape and ugly, plants produced only one thick stem and no branches, quality of flower was similar in the tunnel and outside, so distortion not related to weather conditions; None, but it is best not to harvest too soon, be sure the stem hardens before harvesting.Similar Cultivars
Lack of branching similar to other Bombay series line.Trial Data
| Plants flowering (%) | Plants dead at end of summer (%) | Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | |||||||
| Average | 1.1 | 19.6 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 111.0 | 8.8 |
| Range of Responses | 1-2 | 9-30 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 3-4 | 36-144 | 7-12 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
It could be the area, wasn’t impressed with this one, flowers didn’t open up and fan out, stayed compact and short; I had ‘Cramer’s Burgundy’ and ‘Temple Belle New Scarlet’ (Gloeckner) in the same trial, and these were much more productive and attractive than this Bombay line; Great color and unusual color which is loved by the florist, as well as my bouquet customers, I feel that it is truly a specialty cut flower. Note: This series of celosia was intended for greenhouse production in the Netherlands and apparently does best in uniform, controlled conditions. Hence, there was a broad range in response to the cultivar in the trials, with many growers finding it far too short and a few too tall.