October 2022 - 35

CULTURE REPORT
purpose-oriented in our breeding
goals versus just coming up with
new colors.
One of the targets we have
identified is the need for a compact
series - not only to be able to fit
more plants per cart per shipment,
but also to accommodate the
changing demographics to smaller
gardens and container gardening/
decorating.
This was the inspiration behind
Darwin Perennials developing the
echinacea Sombrero Poco series.
This well-matched series of five
colors reaches a maximum height
of 16 inches and has all the best
attributes of the original echinacea
Sombrero name. They are heavily
branched with high flower count,
they mature gracefully (not going
right to brown) and, maybe best of
all, they are first-year flowering.
PROPAGATION
Echinacea Poco are tissue culture
raised plants. This means they are
grown in a controlled growth room
in petri dishes. When the plantlets
are suitably rooted, they are shipped
mostly to liner producers, who
follow some rather specialized
protocols to establish them as plugs
and prepare them to ship to the
finished growers.
Sombrero Poco are best grown in
1 quart to 2.5 quart containers. If
larger than this, you will need three
plants per pot to fill the container.
Another option where Poco are
well suited is as a filler in mixed
containers. In this case, I would
recommend transplanting liners into
quarts before going into the final mix.
Scheduling the echinacea
Sombrero Poco series is easy using
www.firstyearfloweringtool.com.
By entering the week you want
these to finish, the tool will tell you
what week to transplant liners into
finished containers. Also included in
the tool are complete propagation
and cultural guidelines for what I
like to call pitfall management -
basically, how to avoid issues I have
seen or experienced myself.
As with all echinacea, I prefer to
grow these in a slightly higher pH
media around 6.2. If growing early
in the season for spring sales, be
sure to start them off right with
a warm media temperature
of +60°F and long day/night
interruption lighting. For early
summer to fall sales (Poco
naturally flower around the end of
June), grow them under natural
photoperiod and full sun. Outdoors
is the best in most regions, but
be aware of heavy rains that can
leach nutrients.
A question I often get is
regarding the use of Configure.
This is a PGR that is used to
increase the basal branching in
some plants. Though Sombrero
Poco do not need Configure, it
can add more bulk to the finished
plants and potentially more
flowers. I, however, recommend
using it in the liner stage, not less
than two weeks before transplant.
If applied after transplant, I have
seen it cause much inconsistency
in growth and finishing.
PROFUSION
Multiple Award
WINNING
Zinnias
Profusion zinnias are such outstanding
performers that the series has five awards,
including AAS Gold Medal winner, Profusion
Red Yellow Bicolor. Noted for uniform habit,
flowering time and exceptional disease
resistance, Profusion are the perfect
low-maintenance, continuous-color option
for a wide array of climates!
HEAT & DROUGHT
RESISTANT
EXCELLENT
LANDSCAPE
PERFORMANCE
The Go-To Zinna Series
INCREDIBLE
UNIFORMITY
Brightening
The World
SakataOrnamentals.com
http://www.SakataOrnamentals.com http://www.firstyearfloweringtool.com
October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2022
