Eustoma 'Ruffle Blue'

Trial: Annual

Year Trialed: 2007

Good Qualities

Beautiful deep blue color (3); Attractive ruffled edges of petals (3); Wonderful, single blooms with ruffled edges, making them look like doubles; I love these, I really like the large flower size.

Problems

The lisianthus seed did not germinate; Stems tended to be a bit shorter than the other varieties in trial; Not a fan of singles, or ruffles, it turns out; Less productive in field than in tunnel; Customers want double lisi; Short stems, not as vigorous as the other varieties; Small flower size not that popular, kind of interesting but I will not plant again.

Comments

All of the trial lisianthus was viewed as novelties, whereas I had full buckets of solid colors of my own lisianthus, we usually only had a few bunches of each trial, and grouped them together in one bucket, thereby reducing their visual impact. this may well have had an effect on their sales; Grown in 30%+ shade.


Trial Data

Eustoma 'Ruffle Blue'
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 3.1 18.1 - 2.5 3.4 2.8 3.3 67 13.3
Range of Responses 1-8.7 14-28 - 2-3 2-5 1-5 1-5 16-216 12-14


¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.


Supplier

Sakata Seed America 18095 Serene Drive Morgan Hill, CA 95037