The importance of ethylene resistance
At A/S Knud Jepsen we pay great attention to ethylene resistance and durability when it comes to refining our Queen® Flowers Kalanchoe. This is clearly reflected in the appearance of the different Queen® flowers varieties, both in the shop and at the customer’s place. The experience is less waste along with an optimum experience for the customer.
Supreme durability is a rather complex aspects, depending on the conditions the plant is exposed to on its way from the greenery to the consumer. Watch this short video that summarizes the importance of the plants’ ethylene resistance.
A unique breeding program
Ethylene is a well-known problem for many producers of potted plants, because flowers that cannot tolerate ethylene quickly appear faded, closed and withered. Kalanchoe is also sensible towards ethylene, for instance from exhaust gasses, spruce and maturing fruits. This is the reason why we work consistently on creating ethylene resistant species.
“We started testing the durability and the ethylene resistance of new flower species 15 years ago. During this period of time we have achieved remarkable results having prolonged the durability with at least 3-4 weeks, underlines plant breeder at A/S Knud Jepsen, Ellen Christensen.
Therefore, we wonder why we do not see more refining programmes that focus on ethyl resistance. The reason for ethyl resistance not having first priority in many refining programmes is probably due to the fact that this feature is not visible from the start. It only appears when the flowers stand in the shops or at the customer’s place.
”It is a fact that many shops are not really suited for selling flowers. The flowers might be placed in the middle of the shop near fruit and vegetables where the amount of ethylene is particularly high. This leaves us with 3 possibilities: either we do not sell plants, we have to accept that they do not appear very appealing, or we adapt the product to the given environment. We have chosen the last option which is the reason for our high focus on both long life and ethyl resistance in our refining. In the future, only geno types with flowers demonstrating ethylene resistance will be selected for the refining programme”, continues Ellen Christensen, who is reassured that the focus of the company is correct when representatives from the retail business see the difference themselves between the appearance of the various flowers in the greenery’s life-test room.
A/S Knud Jepsen has an extensive breeding program that has resulted in all flowers tested for durability and ethylene resistance before continuing to the next refining level.