(Lois Taylor has the week off)
Kamemoto and Kuehnle are working to develop new anthuriums that will grow faster, live longer, ship better and be more beautiful in order to promote the commercial cultivation of the familiar flower. This, of course, trickles down to the back-yard grower, but you and I aren't their major concern.
In the past 50 years, the anthurium has gone from being a hobby among a few growers to the most important commercial cut flower crop in the state. The program was developed by Kamemoto in 1950, upon his return from Cornell University where he earned his doctorate in floriculture-plant breeding.
He is now emeritus professor of horticulture at the UH, and as a retired faculty member could spend his days playing golf or traveling, Instead, Kamemoto works regular hours in the greenhouse hybridizing spectacular new anthuriums.
Kuehnle, his partner in the project, is an associate professor of horticulture at the university. Her expertise is in plant tissue culture, breeding and biotechnology. Her doctorate is also from Cornell, but 40 years later than Kamemoto's.
The pair's most recent success is "Tropic Fire," which has not yet been released commercially. They have made tissue cultures or clones of the original hybrid and sent the flasks to a selected group of Big Island growers who cooperate with the university. These growers cultivate the plants, keeping detailed records of what's good and what's not so good for Kamemoto and Kuehnle.
"You also want a fast-growing plant, and 'Tropic Fire' grows to two feet in less than two years. It fills the container very quickly, and will grow in a variety of media. We use a mix of compost, pine bark and perlite, but you can use peat moss or coconut husks just as well. It responds well to a foliar fertilizer."
But more flowers won't do any good if they aren't spectacular enough that people want to buy them. So next comes color, shape and carriage. Kuehnle explained that growers want a clear, glossy flower with uniform color, except for the obake which is expected to show some color variations. "Tropic Fire" is a brilliant shiny new-car red, and red is the color that sells best.
The shape of the standard anthurium is broad, symmetrical and heart-shaped. "You don't want deep ridges on the spathe (the colored part of the flower),and the spadix (the central spike) should curve slightly downward for packing and shipping," Kamemoto said.
"Carriage" refers to the way the flower grows. Ideally, the stem should be straight and it should be strong where it connects with the head of the flower. Commonly, the flower falls off the stem as it ages. The flower should also stand well above the foliage rather than grow among the leaves.
"Tropic Fire" has another advantage, in that the old flowers retain their color and gloss. This is important for the vase life of the cut flowers, Kuehnle said. It is also tolerant, although not resistant, to the bacterial blight that has done major damage to the anthurium farms around Hilo.
"You might get some spots, but not the melt-down of the whole plant that occurs with some other anthuriums," she added.
Kamemoto and Kuehnle have recently published through the University of Hawaii Press a scholarly and beautiful book, "Breeding Anthuriums in Hawaii." The colored photographs are lovely, but the scientific text, like their work, is aimed at the commercial grower and not the coffee table of the back-yard gardener.
So does "Tropic Fire" end their quest for the perfect anthurium?
By no means, Kamemoto said. "You need variety. It's like women's dresses. They don't all want to look alike. We need white anthuriums for weddings and pink anthuriums for Mother's Day. We need all kinds of colors.
"We're working now on fragrance. Some anthuriums have a very sweet floral fragrance like Lily of the Valley. Others have a minty smell. We are going to try breeding for fragrance.
"Tropic Fire," which has been patented by the UH, should be available later this year at garden shops, Kamemoto said. "Hawaii growers will have a one-year exclusive access to 'Tropic Fire' before we release it on the mainland or abroad. We want to give our growers a head start."
