Quick thoughts from Allan Armitage on CAST 2022

Added on 06 April 2022

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Quick thoughts from Allan Armitage on CAST 2022

US- Another year, another journey but who am I kidding? The last two years have been so stressful and lonely, this was anything but another year. People were ecstatic just to see their colleagues, their customers, and their friends at the 2022 California Spring Trials (CAST) after such a long absence.

Usually, the plants are the showstoppers at CAST, but this year, the people were as well. Praise be to normal.

What Did We See?

As I traveled down the California coast with Greenhouse Grower Editor Janeen Wright and our friend and plant lover Robin Siktberg, there were a few plants that captured our eyes and imaginations, but truth be told, this was a down year for the wow factor, but a good year for circling the wagons and filling in program gaps. Having said that, I will mention one or two Wow-Plants in a later column.

While it seems like trends just pop up, this is not so. The breeders and growers have been working on these for some time they were obvious this year.

Cut Flowers

At least half of the breeder firms displayed a robust interest in improved genetics for cut flowers. As a trend, one only has to pay attention to organizations like the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG) to see that membership and actual production has skyrocketed over the last two years. While many of these growers are new and relatively small, it bodes great things to see the breeders pay attention and offer new excitement to everyone.