Super Serie Elegante: heat-tolerant midi Cyclamen full of surprises
Following a successful launch in North America, the whole world is now enjoying a new addition to Schoneveld Breeding’s Super Serie family. The Cyclamen line has been expanded with Super Serie Elegante, a uniform midi-flowered Cyclamen with special characteristics. Rick Slingschröder, growing support specialist, is pleased with this addition to the existing range: “Elegante is an easy-to-grow Cyclamen with unique traits and high productivity. This is very beneficial for growers.”
It all started years ago with Super Serie Allure. This midi-flowered Cyclamen has been a cornerstone among growers for many years. However, the breeders at Schoneveld Breeding felt that its performance during warmer periods could be improved. Hence, the introduction of Super Serie Elegante, a Cyclamen that still performs optimally under warm conditions. “Elegante produces a lot of flowers and does not suffer from stress or growth delays thanks to its excellent heat tolerance,” says Rick.
Floral explosion
“You can think of Elegante as the heat-tolerant little sister of Super Serie Leopardo,” he continues. “Verano is the mini, Elegante the midi, and Leopardo the large-flowered variant. Elegante stands out because of the enormous number of flowers it produces.” While normal Cyclamens display about 8 to 10 flowers at a time, Elegante starts with around 15 flowers. “The flowers are slightly smaller, but when Elegante starts to blossom, it looks as though it is in full bloom,” Rick says enthusiastically. He points to the number of leaves on Elegante: “Each leaf is a flower, and Elegante keeps on blooming.”
High productivity
The flowering period in Northern Europe is August and September, but in the warmer south of Europe, Elegante is still beautiful in October. “If you plant Elegante too early, you will get a wide spread flowering,” Rick points out an important aspect of cultivation. Breeding results in Italy and other warm areas have shown that Elegante does not experience growth delays in warm conditions, thus flowering faster than usual for midi-Cyclamens that are not heat-tolerant. “If the grower plants Elegante at the right time, they will achieve a higher productivity per square metre. After all, cultivation is not delayed in warm conditions, and because Elegante is a compact type, the productivity per square metre is further increased.”
Easy to grow
According to Rick, the cultivation is not very complicated. “Elegante is easy to grow. With the right fertilisation – first nitrogen-rich, then more potassium-rich – Elegante develops thick stems. It is a strong, sturdy plant that diseases like Botrytis do not easily affect. You can grow about 18 to 24 per square metre, and because of its uniformity, harvesting is easy. If you go through the cultivation once, you can get about 90% of the crop. You essentially grow Elegante like a standard Cyclamen; the only difference is that Elegante does not experience delays in warm conditions. Heat tolerance is really in its DNA.”