Have you heard about the " filantherless " African Violet yet ? It is a Saintpaulia that has flowers without the filament and anther , and is the termination of more than 10 years of breeding by Optimara . They introduced the so - call Optimara “ LooXo ” Saintpaulia aka African Violet serial for the first metre at the Cultivate'18 show in Columbus , Ohio , USA and since then , the kind has been making clearance . " Like my father always say : It is the toilet works of the future " , says Reinhold Holtkamp , music director of the company .
Lawrence Holtkamp , fifth generation Holtkamp and Director of e - Commerce , at Cultivate18
Focus - more profitable cropIt all started with the aim to make Saintpaulia a more profitable crop for the nursery cultivator to grow . " My cousin , Martin Holtkamp , who is Director of the Optimara Breeding Program , had a mere focal point to make the Saintpaulia easier and more cost effective to grow . " Martin Holtkamp has been engender African Violets for more than 35 years . His efforts with the filantherless breeding computer program started over 10 years ago at their German breeding facility in Isselburg . The rearing was kept under strict secrecy . " We did not want to share anything on what we were working on , as the economical benefit will be meaning when introduced . "
LooXo ‘ radiantLooXoseriesCurrently Optimara has four miscellany in the computer programme : Blue and bloodless , scarlet and white , flider and white , and blue . When creating the “ LooXo ” register trademark , their team had some sport . " Since the plant only has the female intimate organs the Adam ' chromosome is highlighted . We also X’ed out ( XO ) the male part . Last and most interesting was the impulse chemical reaction from the consumer . When consumer look at the LooXo flora , they would call out in hullabaloo adjective like ' gorgeous ' , ' amazing ' , ' beautiful ' , and we settle that using adjective as the newfangled name serial was a modern and unparalleled fashion to call the LooXo series . LooXo ‘ gorgeous , LooXo ‘ radiant , LooXo ‘ amazing and LooXo ‘ magnificent " , say Holtkamp . These are being introduced in 2019 , but a large and a full spectrum of colors will be rolled out in 2020 .
Advantages of the seriesThe " filantherless " characteristic of the Optimara “ LooXo ” series is what makes this Saintpaulia unique and brings several advantage . " First , the lack of the filament and anther makes the bloom less attractive to the insect Frankliniella occidentalis aka Western Flower Thrip . Secondly , the flowers do not develop Botrytis , typically set up on the anther , which is another self-aggrandizing problem for ship the flowers over longer distance . Thirdly , the lack of the manly intimate organ makes the blossom longer lasting in the store and in the consumer ' home . "
Closeup LooXo ‘ gorgeous
ReactionsThe series was introduced at the Cultivate'18 in Columbus , Ohio , and so far the reactions from growers , retail buyer and consumers are very positive . " The agriculturalist love the musical theme of being able to grow the African Violet without give birth to worry about the Western Flower Thrip or Botrytis during the growing of the plant . Besides , with chemicals becoming more restrictive and costly , not having to use as mach is a definite plus . On top of that , with the profuse flowering of the plants , having flowers survive longer the grower is able-bodied to sell plants over a longer time period . "
Also the retail buyers seem to be excited about this young equipment characteristic . " increase shelf - life , and reduced shrink yields higher margin for the retail merchant . "
When looking on the consumer storey , late studies have show that consumers do not see or lose the anther in the plant . " When acquaint with the plant 9 out of 10 do not remark that anything is missing and unquestionably do not make it part of their buying decision . As for the negatives , there are none that we cognise of . "
AvailabilityCurrently Optimara is only offer the Optimara “ LooXo ” serial publication in the USA . However , multiple markets in Asia and Europe are being brush up and discussed . " We have a pending patent for the USA and PCT patents are being filed in multiple country and markets to ensure that the characteristic will not diminish into scalawag and pirating hands . "
LooXo ‘ awing
Setting a standardOver the late years , Optimara has proven to be a trailblazer in bringing new Saintpaulia varieties on the market place and setting a banner for it . " In the late 1950s our caller formulate the Non - Dropping African Violet , today all of the commercially grow African reddish blue are Non - Dropping , then we developed the Biedermeier bouquet flower cluster where all blossom are clustered toward the centerfield of the plant . Again , today all of the commercially get African violet have this machine characteristic . Then come in Semper - Florence or profuse flowering , and also our patented Multi - Fluorescent uninterrupted blooming gadget characteristic . "
Also for the Filantherless feature they consider that it will make its mark in capturing an interesting market ploughshare . " We will continue to replace varieties in our broadcast with this Modern LooXo demarcation of Optimara African Violets . "
“ Pot industrial plant of the future”Holtkamp foresees a bright futurity for the Saintpaulia . " We see an increasing interest from untested generations embracing the African Violet . Our Facebook consumer age demographic have proceed to drop and is now clump at 40 - 50 geezerhood . We experience very comfortable in the age range . "
" My late Father-God , Reinhold Holtkamp Sr . , always order that the Saintpaulia is the “ Pot plant of the future tense . ”
For more informationOptimaraReinhold HoltkampEmail:[email protected]www.optimara.com
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