“Our breeding work is focusing on expanding our selections, especially when it comes to novelty calibrachoa,” says Mike Fernandez, market manager, Danziger North America.
Nothing captures the attention of home gardeners more than vibrant color and unique flower forms. With so many options in colors and styles, it’s no wonder calibrachoa is quickly becoming the go-to annual to help inspire consumer purchases.
For growers, finding the perfect calibrachoa to fit different needs can be challenging. Danziger is striving to make the process of choosing and growing calibrachoa easier. The company uses technology-driven breeding processes to deliver unique calibrachoa series for each type of use. Developed and tested in Israel, every Danziger calibrachoa offers built-in heat tolerance and exceptional disease resistance. Each variety is tested around the globe before it is brought to market, ensuring top-quality performance for growers and season-long enjoyment for home gardeners.
“Our breeding work is focusing on expanding our selections, especially when it comes to novelty calibrachoa,” says Mike Fernandez, market manager, Danziger North America. “By broadening our color range, habit, and novelty offerings, we’ve added a lot of diversity to our calibrachoa line. It is a complete line, with high-quality genetics growers can count on. Our cuttings are shipped from our state-of-the-art growing facility in Guatemala, so you know you’ll receive reliable, and exceptionally clean plant material. We have everything growers need, which saves time and money.”
Fernandez offers these tips for choosing and growing calibrachoa.
Choose the Right Type of Calibrachoa
Danziger makes choosing the right calibrachoa for the job easy with series specific varieties. Whether you’re growing hanging baskets, high-end combos, quarts, or packs there is a Danziger calibrachoa to fit your need.
The COLIBRI™ Series is Danziger’s controlled growth calibrachoa. Perfect for 6-packs, small pots, and tidy hanging baskets, with little to no PGR needed. Known for its loads of vibrant colored blooms, COLIBRI is also available in new Abstract and Bling patterns.
Choose the LIA™ Series for hanging baskets and container combos. This medium-vigor variety features controlled growth in a semi-trailing habit, and is available in several vivid colors and unique patterns.
If you’re looking for eye-catching blooms, choose EYECONIC™. This large, eye-type calibrachoa features strong contrasting color on every bloom. Its stunning flower power creates captivating baskets and combinations.
The OMBRE™ serie s offers a multi-hued blend of color all on one plant, making it a natural for monoculture containers. It’s controlled, semi-trailing habit make it a great choice for color-filled hanging baskets.
New for 2023 Calibrachoa
Monitor your pH
Every Danziger calibrachoa is tested for pH sensitivity. “Our breeding work has developed varieties that can tolerate a higher pH,” says Fernandez. “But it is very important for growers to know and monitor the pH of their water. This information allows growers to make good decisions about other additives such as fertilizer and acid injections.” Fernandez recommends trying to maintain an ideal soil pH of 5.2 to 5.8.
Stay Ahead of Potential Problems
All Danziger varieties are screened for powdery mildew. However, strains are different all around the world. Fernandez suggests using a protective spray for powdery mildew. Applying before hanging your baskets can save you time and effort.
Growing Calibrachoa
When Creating Combos, Match Your Growth Habit
If you’re creating your own container or hanging basket combinations, be sure you choose varieties with matching growth habits. “No one wants a hanging basket where one variety overtakes the whole design,” says Fernandez. “Matching growth habits, creates a long-lasting basket that looks great at retail and provides a good experience for the home gardener. For example, our COLIBRI™ series plays very well with our CAPELLA™ petunia s and the VANESSA™ COMPACT verbena series to create a classic three plant combination. All three series are well-behaved and developed specifically for controlled growth.
If you’re looking to make selecting varieties for containers and baskets even easier, Danziger’s DuraBella® plant com binations take away all the guess work. These two-, and three plant recipes feature curated combos that have been tested for garden performance. The varieties pair well together, creating colorful, long-lasting containers.
