Lubera Edibles is the clear European market leader for soft fruit young plants for the home garden market. We and our parent company Robert Mayer have achieved this position by combining access to high-quality varieties and assortments with a standardised, easy-to-use and well-plannable young plant. We are now systematically striving to do exactly the same with strawberries: thanks to our young plants and varieties, the production of strawberry plants should become simpler and easier to plan, production times should become shorter – and finally we offer a range that has been specially bred and selected for the home garden market. This range of young plants is suitable both for strawberry specialists who want to expand their range in a targeted manner and for pot plant operations or nurseries who want to enter the strawberry segment. As we show in our study on the demand for strawberry plants, the market is very diverse and offers countless opportunities.
Micropropagated strawberry young plants – much easier to process than frigo plants
Picture: our innovative strawberry young plants, the Lubera Edibles plugs
Anyone who has ever potted and processed frigo plants for strawberry pot plant production knows how tedious this can be. The roots have to be cut back, the thick root bundles and the main part of the plant hardly fit into the pot, especially not in 6-packs or 10-packs. The frigo plants sprout beautifully, but live the longest time from their reserves, meaning that the root penetration takes a long time. Our micropropagated young plant plugs are completely different: they are not only very quick and easy to pot, the potting process can also be automated and this also works very well for the production of packs. In addition, although the plant is small (the advantage in processing...), it also has a perfect balance between underground and above-ground organs. The result is this: the plant begins to grow immediately, above and below ground, and already after 4-6 weeks, depending on the pack or pot size, the plant is ready and saleable. We also deliver the plug young plants hardened in such a way that they can be potted immediately and placed outdoors.
Lubera Edibles plug young plants – more flexibility and a fast production time
Thanks to micropropagation, the plants are rejuvenilised and extremely vigorous. They start to grow immediately and do not take a break. With the right production planning and young plant disposition the production times can be extremely shortened. In spring 2020 we will supplement the green strawberry plug plants with a frigo variant in the same plug (cultivated in autumn and frozen afterwards), which can be taken out of the cooler, then delivered and processed as required in early spring. This production takes about two weeks longer, but allows a very robust and not greenhouse dependent production in cold tunnels or outdoors. Outdoor plants are also characterised in the spring by being much more compact and they have a longer selling time, as they do not grow out of control.
Also suitable for the production of high-quality plants in 6-packs or 10-packs!
Picture: strawbeery packs in plastic greenhouse
It is usually assumed that the high-quality plug plants are only suitable for producing single pots. They show their obvious advantages especially in the production of 6-packs or other trays: they are easy to process and have fast plant development. We are convinced that with these advantages the disadvantage of the slightly higher price can be more than compensated and that the final product is much better and more uniform than a production using frigo plants.
In our small study on the consumer demand for strawberry plants, based on sales data from our sister company Lubera.com, we showed that there is also a good and stable demand for high-quality varieties in the garden market (not meaning balconies/terraces). There is also a demand for premium plants – as there is in the terrace and balcony plant market – which are not bought individually for the garden bed, but in trays or packs.
No F1 hybrids, but vegetatively propagated varieties
Finally, we would also like to mention the advantages that are not related to young plant quality, but to Lubera® genetics. The Lubera varieties (and therefore also our plug young plants) are not seedling plants, meaning that they are not F1 hybrids like many of the young plants known on the market. They are vegetatively propagated varieties with completely identical characteristics. This breeding method (genotype selection and then vegetative propagation and testing up to mass propagation) has the decisive advantage that during the breeding and testing of a new variety for six to seven years we can carry out the cultivation in the field, with no or extremely reduced plant protection, which leads to more robust and resistant varieties. Hybrid breeding relies on performing many breeding and development steps in the greenhouse and does not have such extensive and sustainable field testing.
Access to the exclusive Lubera® range that includes all types of strawberries
Picture: strawbeery plants in the Lubera® breeding fields
The Lubera® strawberries are the only comprehensive strawberry range on the market that has been specially bred for the home garden market; the range also covers all strawberry plant types, from the June-bearing, early or late varieties, to the everbearing garden varieties and special balcony varieties to the Double Pleasures®, our new pink-blooming strawberry series. By using Lubera Edibles plug plants you automatically gain access to this exclusive range. The sales figures and customer feedback of our sister company Lubera.com show how willing consumers are to pay a certain surcharge for premium varieties. We even found out that offering a 10-pack with June-bearing standard varieties such as Polka and Korona no longer works.
Our in-house Lubera® breeding and development department is working hard on new and additional varieties, which have the main goal of not only reproducing and maintaining the market for strawberry plants in the garden and on balconies and terraces, but even of expanding it: thanks to their resistance, thanks to their better flavour and thanks to their ornamental value.
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Would you like more information, an individual consultation or information about additional ranges?
Click here for the complete 2019 catalogue, which can be downloaded.
If you have specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact our customer service, where you can also spontaneously place an order.
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