Trial: Annual
Year Trialed: 2004 Year of Trial: First (from 2004 report)Good Qualities
Nice vibrant color (5); Good fragrance (3); Much more appealing than the Amazon Neon Duo series; Lasted long time in field and in cooler; Long vase life; Mix well in bouquets; Easy, good for bouquets, nice dark foliage, quick to produce; Bloomed 2 weeks earlier than Amazon Neon, this purple is the same color as the Amazon purple; Germinated great; In the tunnel, 2 weeks earlier than Neon series, will produce a second flush of flowers in late Sept through Oct (Zone 5) but stems even shorter then, most productive of the Dianthus in trial; Outside, early, productive, first harvest by June 23, flowers in year of sowing without cold treatment; Could be cut from bud to fully open for immediate use; Easy to grow, multiple stems produced during flowering season.Problems
Too short (3); No problems; Planted too late - I think they would have done much better, if planted in fall; Blister beetles ravaged the flowers, picture is on www.hightunnels.org, Sevin controlled the beetles, had to spray twice in August; In the tunnel, thinner stems than Neon series; Outside, stem length marginal; Stem length inconsistency; Many of the secondary stems are weak.Postharvest
They were pretty easy to take care of, they do have a tendency to snap at the joints when I was handling them to strip leaves.Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | Average Spacing (in2) | Average Postharvest Life (days) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | |||||||
| Average | 5.8 | 15.1 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 87 | 9.0 |
| Range of Responses | 1-10 | 6-28 | 2-4 | 2-5 | 2-5 | 1-5 | 2-5 | 36-144 | 7-14 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
Looks like the same genetics as Neon Duo which is good; Outside, this variety is 5.5 inches shorter than Amazon Purple, but 20 days earlier; Good cut flower; The tunnel grown available for July 2 sales; Support wire was necessary; Dianthus barbatus is a biennial; flower production per plant during the first year was very good; however, we have left these plants in the field over winter to determine if they will flower better the second year.