California Spring Trials 2023 Preview: New Edibles on Display
California Spring Trials (CAST) 2023 takes place this week along the California coast. What can you expect to discover at CAST this year? Over the past few weeks, GreenhouseGrower.com has offered a series of slideshows, video previews, and more.
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Rumex flexuosus 'Twister Copper Red' (Hem Genetics)
Rumex flexuosus ‘Twister Copper Red’ is an unusual dock/sorrel with narrow copper-colored leaves and wiry, contorted flower stems. It has a mounding, spreading habit which creates a unique item to add color and texture to both your landscape and mixed containers, plus tart lemony foliage for salads. Twister is hardy in USDA zones 6b to 10a.
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Rocket Peppers 'Sweet Mamba Orange' (Prudac)
‘Sweet Mamba Orange’ is an excellent upright-growing pepper plant producing sweet peppers. The glossy, fleshy fruit turns from a dark black to a bright orange when ripening. The plant itself has an upright growth habit with a strong central stem and is drought-tolerant.
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Pumpkin Peppers 'Halloween Sweet Gold' (Prudac)
‘Halloween Sweet Gold’ is a fun pot/container pepper that has sweet pumpkin-shaped fruits. The fruits start out as a glossy purple-black color that mature to a bright gold color. The plant is upright in growth and does not require staking or pruning. It presents its first ripened fruits centrally but will build a large branching plant during the full season. ‘Halloween Gold’ would make a great pot plant for late-season markets, just in time for Halloween.
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Peppers from Heaven Sweet Yellow (Prudac)
Peppers from Heaven is a vibrant and productive hanging basket variety. This variety is suitable for a 6-inch to 7-inch pots. It starts out green and turns into a glossy orange, with lots of large, tasty fruit. Plant three plants in one pot for a fuller look. This variety has a continuous fruit set under the right conditions.
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Peppers from Heaven Sweet Red (Prudac)
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Peppers from Heaven Sweet Orange (Prudac)
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Kale 'Rainbow Candy Crush' (Prudac)
‘Rainbow Candy Crush’ is a pink edible ornamental kale. It has an upright growth habit and forms a nice, rounded bush when mature. Suitable for pots, containers, small space gardening, and open-field production. This kale has a vibrant pink and purple center with bright green edges. The pink color will be more intense during cooler nighttime temperatures. Flavor is mildly sweet and has a good eating quality. Excellent for kale chips, salads, and smoothies.
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Brassica 'Baby Cauliflower' (Prudac)
Baby Cauliflower presents a compact curd and plant habit for high density planting and as a pot plant. The indoor shelf-life of the plant is at least 10 days when watered like a pot-plant. Crop time from young plant to saleable product is 40 days. The curd and leaves are both edible and delicious in a stir fry.
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Allium 'Autumn Bee Attraction' (Prudac)
Our newest allium variety, ‘Autumn Bee Attraction’, performs differently compared to most other allium varieties. It is a great garden performer in the fall. Usable as a container, patio, or garden plant, and as cut flower. It is both a beautiful and a delicious patio or garden perennial.
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Tomato 'Sunny Drops Baby Orange' (Prudac)
‘Sunny Drops Baby Orange’ has a tear-drop fruit shape and a vibrant orange color. The plant height is only 12 inches tall yet loaded with fruit. Fruits are a pale green color at immaturity and set on the outside of the plant, making it highly visible and easy to harvest. Pruning and the use of growth retardants are discouraged. This variety does well in low light conditions and will work great for small space gardening, indoor use, or vertical farming.
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Tomato ‘Love Gourmansun Sunrise’ (Burpee Home Gardens)
Indeterminate-type plants produce beautiful, flaming yellow bicolor beefsteak tomatoes. Everyone will fall in love with this tomato and its great-tasting, heart-shaped fruit. Approximately 85 days to harvest. Plants have disease resistance for better home gardener success. Height: 60 to 72 inches. Spread is 24 to 30 inches. Type: Indeterminate. Fruit Size is 10 oz.
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Ruta chalepensis 'Barry' (Hem Genetics)
Ruta chalepensis ‘Barry’ is a less common species called Fringed Rue, and has wonderful leaf shape and foliage color to add that silver blue accent to your gardens or patio containers. ‘Barry’ is winter hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9 and grows to a height of 16 inches. The second year they will produce yellow cup-shaped blooms in spring.
View all
Rumex flexuosus 'Twister Copper Red' (Hem Genetics)
Rocket Peppers 'Sweet Mamba Orange' (Prudac)
Pumpkin Peppers 'Halloween Sweet Gold' (Prudac)
Peppers from Heaven Sweet Yellow (Prudac)
Peppers from Heaven Sweet Red (Prudac)
Peppers from Heaven Sweet Orange (Prudac)
Kale 'Rainbow Candy Crush' (Prudac)
Brassica 'Baby Cauliflower' (Prudac)
Allium 'Autumn Bee Attraction' (Prudac)
Tomato 'Sunny Drops Baby Orange' (Prudac)
Tomato ‘Love Gourmansun Sunrise’ (Burpee Home Gardens)
Ruta chalepensis 'Barry' (Hem Genetics)
In the slideshow above, learn how to take advantage of increased consumer demand for edibles with these new offerings.
You can find the complete CAST lineup and schedule here.
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Brian Sparks is senior editor of Greenhouse Grower and editor of Greenhouse Grower Technology. See all author stories here.