Fruit trees

Traditionally, soft fruit plants are delivered to sales outlets and sold off in early spring. Depending on the season, there may or may not be additional deliveries. Using Google data, we show that the demand for certain types of fruit (or the corresponding terms) is sometimes continuous throughout the year or that there is a second peak after spring when the fruit in question is ripe. But can this effect also be demonstrated in specific plant sales? Are we perhaps systematically selling many...

Plant breeding in April 2022: at Lubera’s field for plant breeding trials in Buchs, Switzerland in early April. You will look in vain for laboratories and white coats. Practical plant breeding takes place first of all in the field, then in the greenhouse; thirdly via researching and evaluating on the computer and only then perhaps in the laboratory. On a Sunday afternoon (when else?), I set off on a tour of our Lubera breeding field in Buchs. What do I notice? What is the latest news? What...

Are edible plants trendy? Of course, we as young plant producers in this sector are tempted to answer this question with a loud YES right from the start. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to examine the question in a little more detail and more closely. This is the only way to better recognise and use the forces that affect our small plant sub-sector.

As in so many industries and areas of everyday life, the trend is moving towards more online-based advertising and paperless communication. However, at the moment, we do not want to do without print media entirely. Last autumn, for example, we were already able to present our current young plant catalogue for 2020. Many of you have already received the printed version and at the same time our young plant catalogue is also available at luberaedibles.com in the download area.

We are often asked where the dwarf growth properties of Lowberries®, but also of Maloni® and Pironi®, our compact growing, bushy pear and apple trees, come from. How do breeders get such properties, how do they recognise and develop them?

What, another new variety? We often hear such and similar remarks. And they are not completely unfounded. We are currently propagating no less than 70 varieties of raspberry. However, the (too) large number is rather due to the fact that we do not succeed in simply abandoning old varieties, as there is still a stable demand for them. This observation also suggests that we should take a closer look at the subject of “new varieties”.

With Lubera® and Lubera® Edibles we are asked again and again, why we would have our own elaborate breeding programmes when there are so many fruit and berry breeding programmes worldwide from which one could use. Our short answer is this: because worldwide there are no fruit and berry breeding programmes that are especially geared towards the home garden. Almost the entire breeding efforts of universities, research stations and increasingly also of private breeders are aimed at...

With the founding of our young plant distribution company Lubera Edibles GmbH, we have not only aligned our marketing concept and our online presence with that of our sister company Lubera, we have also taken over key elements from the former distribution company. One of these key elements was, is and remains the availability list. Previously only updated from time to time and delivered upon customer request, the newly revised availability list with a similar layout is now always accessible on...

On 1 January 2019 the time had finally come when the newly founded sales company Lubera Edibles GmbH started its day-to-day operations. Just in time for the upcoming International Plant Fair (IPM) that took place from 22 - 25 January 2019 in Essen, Germany. At our joint booth, together with our sister company Lubera®, we talked to our customers, the trade press and all interested parties about the new cooperation and the associated changes regarding the young plant qualities and the revised...

As the new company name, Lubera Edibles®, already suggests, we are expanding our range of young plants from classic soft fruits, such as raspberries, blackberries or blueberries, to anything that can be consumed in any way. This includes edible fruits like kiwis, apples and pears. Or edible roots such as horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke or potato. But also edible leaves, petioles, flowers such as sea kale, tea or rhubarb. We would like to introduce our most important groups of crops in the...