Trial: Annual
Year Trialed: 2007
Good Qualities
Gorgeous, bright color (3), nice two-tone pink, sturdy stem; Early to bloom makes this one a keeper! (2); Nice scent, good stem length, held up well; Mambo Cherry is the color of Cherry blossoms (light pink), not the fruit; Easy to grow, no major pests, very easy to harvest and bunch; Early cut- 32 days from field planting, clean color/nice double flower, single flowers useable in bouquets; Easy to germinate and early to go to field beds; All plants flowered; Good height compared to Aida cultivar, good fragrance; As with other trial cultivars- getting a few bonus lateral/basel shoots- give us extra/bonus material to work into our smaller mixed bouquets.Problems
None (2); May not be a problem for other growers, but bloomed too early for my market, only one stem...maybe I wasn't harvesting properly; Too fat use in bouquets; Not a prolific bloomer, did not transplant well; No marketable flowers on any cultivar in series; Relatively short stems, high percentage singles; Needs to be staked, had trouble singling out singles vs doubles; A fairly nice - mid pink- a little easier on the eye than the Mambo Pink.Similar Cultivars
None that we have grown, we have grown the Goldcut series but the color was much more delicate for this variety.Postharvest
We did not use any postharvest treatment - just plain water; Bleach in water.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 | 1.1 | 16.7 | 4.0 | - | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 65 | 8.1 |
| Range of Responses | 0.6-2.5 | 13-22 | 4.0 | - | 3-5 | 1-5 | 3-5 | 16-170 | 6-12 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
I would definitely grow this again, customers liked the color; This was my first attempt at growing stock so was nervous about how to germinate and grow plugs, esp. as 288's. Delay in planting Mambo Pink was to let the plants get a little bigger before planting in the high tunnel. If I can learn how to get a little longer stem and a little bigger head, it will a winner at the wholesale florist due to fragrance and physical condition when delivered. In spite of a two week difference in transplant date, there was only a 3 day difference in peak harvest date for the two cvs. Harvested over a 2 wk period; All plants in the series looked good during the germination, seedling, and early growth phase as young plants in the greenhouse and as plants in the beds, however, when flowering time came the flowers were useless, one or two florets, stunted spikes and not harvestable; Transplanting into tunnel on day 37 resulted in stockier, taller plants than those transplanted a week later; Will grow again; Perhaps like 'Appleblossom'?