Inside Scoop on the First Hybrid Seed Echinacea 

Echinacea Artisan Collection (Kieft Seed)

2020 Medal of Excellence  Industry’s Choice Award  winner: Echinacea Artisan Collection from Kieft Seed.

This is the second of four Q&A features honoring winners of Greenhouse Grower’s Medal of Excellence Awards. This installment features Jerry Gorchels, Regional Account Manager, PanAmerican Seed.  Special thanks to Title Sponsor WestRock for its support of this program.

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What advantages does a seed product in echinacea bring to growers looking for production flexibility? 

Gorchels: A seed input offers flexible scheduling to meet a variety of market dates. Production can be based on when it fits with the grower’s schedule and retail sales dates — not based on when live material arrives.

PanAmerican Seed’s Kieft Seed perennials division has released two great colors in the new Echinacea Artisan Collection: Red Ombre, with flowers that open in shades of red and scarlet and soften with age, and Soft Orange that open deep-orange and lighten as they mature. Both varieties will have 3- to 4-inch diameter blooms that will last three to four weeks. These are the first F1 hybrids to be available for the industry, and we are thrilled to accept Greenhouse Grower’s 2020 Industry’s Choice Medal of Excellence for this breakthrough breeding.

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In production for the Artisan Collection, you will see a more uniform development of the crop. PanAmerican Seed offers 85% germination standard minimum. Plug crop time is five to six weeks, while transplant to finish can be anywhere from 13 to 17 weeks after transplant, depending on the season being produced. Finish in a trade gallon container with 1 to 3 ppp growing media.

Also, because the Artisan Echinacea are from seed, they offer flexibility in production scheduling and labor management. There is no need for special handling of seed that is typically required for tissue culture to prevent input shipping damage. Seed is easy to store and accommodate for labor scheduling, too. The uniform nature of the new Artisan Echinacea collection is also a huge plus for growers who benchrun first-year flowering perennials for easy shipping.

You can find complete culture and scheduling information at Panamseed.com.

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