COMPARISON OF THE POTENTIAL OF DIFFERENT CULTIVARS OF PROTEAS AND PINCUSHIONS IN PROTECTED CULTIVATION IN THE FRENCH MEDITERRANEAN AREA AND OUTDOORS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Authors:	P. Allemand, G.M. Littlejohn
Keywords:	Cultivar evaluation, Protea, Leucospermum, soilless cultivation, field cultivation.
Abstract: Within the framework of a European Commission funded research contract between South Africa, France, Spain and Zimbabwe, about twenty cultivars of Protea and Leucospermum were grown in France in soilless conditions in a greenhouse. The same or similar cultivars were grown in the field in South Africa. The aim of this study was to assess the behaviour of these cultivars under the two different cultivation regimes. In France, the number of flushes and total length of the flowering stem, period of flowering, yield per plant and flower quality were used to evaluate the cultivars. In South Africa, the data included the time to harvest after pruning, stem length at first and subsequent harvest, yield of marketable stems and flower quality, and flowering period. Of the twenty cultivars tested in soilless conditions, only six (four Protea and two Leucospermum) were of interest for commercial cultivation. A broader spectrum of cultivars is suitable for field cultivation in South Africa.
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