Developing Production and Bulb Forcing Protocols for Cut Eucomis

New cut flower introductions are necessary to keep and increase consumer interest. The objectives of this study were to determine the appropriate production and bulb forcing protocols for Eucomis ‘Coral,’ ‘Cream,’ ‘Lavender,’ and ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ to be produced as a new specialty cut flower.  Planting location (field versus greenhouse), planting density, and forcing temperatures after storage were investigated for their effects on stem quantity and quality.  Stem length was greater in the greenhouse than in the field for all cultivars.  ‘Lavender’ yielded 44.0 cm stems in the greenhouse and 38.1 cm in the field.  Stems of ‘Coral’ were thinner in the field (11.9 mm) compared to the greenhouse (13.5 mm) and thickest when planted at 6, versus 12, bulbs per crate in the greenhouse (14.0 mm).  ‘Cream’ bulbs planted in the greenhouse had more marketable stems per plant (1.05) than those planted in the field (0.98).  For ‘Coral’, as planting density increased from 6 to 12 bulbs per plot in the field stem length increased from 46.5 to 49.8 cm.  Stem caliper decreased from 11.1 to 9.8 mm for ‘Lavender’ as the planting density increased from 6 to 12 bulbs per crate.  The number of marketable stems per plant for ‘Coral’ was 1.33 (8 stems per crate) when planted with 6 bulbs per crate and 1.07 (13 stems per crate) with 12 bulbs per crate.  Planting density had no effect on the number of marketable stems of ‘Sparkling Burgundy’, ‘Lavender’, and ‘Cream’.  ‘Coral’ bulbs grown in the warmest (18°C) forcing temperature flowered quicker (176 d) than the bulbs in the coolest (2°C) temperature (199 d), which was consistent for all cultivars.  The 10°C forcing temperature resulted in the longest stem length for all cultivars.  For example, stem length of ‘Lavender’ at 10°C was 76.3 cm, while at 18°C it was 59.6 cm.  As the forcing temperature increased the percent of marketable stems for ‘Lavender’ decreased from 100% at 2°C to 88% at 18°C.  Forcing temperature had no effect on stem caliper of ‘Cream’ and ‘Lavender’, while ‘Coral’ had the thickest caliper at 2°C.  These results suggest that Eucomis may be suitable for heated greenhouse, unheated high tunnel, or field production and has commercial potential as a specialty cut flower.