The Ohio State University Learning Gardens 2005 Osteospermum Cultivar Trial GREENHOUSE EVALUATION By Monica Kmetz-González, Annette Duetz, and Dr. Claudio Pasian The Ohio State University Department of Horticulture and Crop Science In 2005, we conducted our eigth Osteospermum/African Daisy Trial in our Departmental greenhouses on the Columbus Campus. Twelve entries from two different companies were trialed. from January through early May. Rooted cuttings were received from participating companies between January 12-20, 2005. Cultural Schedule: January 18 - January 20, 2005 (Week 3). Rooted cuttings of 20 plants per cultivar were transplanted to 4.5 inch pots. Potting media: MetroMix 360. Greenhouse temperature: 72F day/night.  Note: 'Crescendo Ivory', had dieback and yellowing on the bottom leaves. February 15, 2005 (Week 7).  Plants pinched to 5 - 6 nodes. March 1, 2005 (Week 9).  Cold vernalization initiated: 46F day/night April 13, 2005 (Week 15).  Temperature changed back to warm: 65F day/55F night May 3 - May 11, 2005 (Weeks 18 - 19).  Cultivars reached peak flowering. Fertilization: The first week after transplanting, 20-10-20 at 200 ppm, 3 times per week was applied. After January 24, 2005 fertilizer was changed to Greencare 17-5-17 at 200 ppm N, 3 times per week Disease Problems: Neither Pythium nor Botrytis were a factor in this years trial. Height Control: No growth regulators were used in this cultivar evaluation. This provided a good indicator of the natural growth habit of each cultivar. Evaluations Performed: PLANT HEIGHT to top of flowers (Table 1) was measured on May 3, 6 and 11. Height is presented in both centimeters and inches, and the table is ranked in order of shortest to tallest cultivar. The main CULTIVAR EVALUATION (Table 2) was performed by the Trials Leader and Trials Managers on May 3, 6, and 11. The table is ranked in decreasing order of the Overall rating. Evaluation Criteria: Ratings were based on a 1 to 5 scale: 1  =  poor/not acceptable 2  =  fair 3  =  good 4  =  very good 5  =  excellent Plants were evaluated for the following characteristics: Flower number. Flower quality. Flower aestetics; color health and appearance. Vegetative/Foliage quality. Plant habit, plant vigor, leaf color, health, and appearance of vegetative portion of plants. Overall. Overall rating for all plants in the grouping, taking the above aspects into consideration. Results: The top entries (with an overall ranking of above 4.0) in the Cultivar Evaluation as rated by the Trials Leader and Trial Managers at the time of peak flower were: Nasinga and Cream, Experimental E-054. Also performing well, and all tied with a ranking of 4.0 were: Wildside and Antique Pink. Since no growth regulators are used in this trial, it is always interesting to observe natural plant heights and habits. Final plant heights almost doubled from the shortest entry, Nasinga Cream (18.4 cm or 7.25 in.) to Margarita Rosita (28.2 or 11.1 in.). There were only two entries finishing off below 20 cm (8 in.): Experimental E-054 and Nasinga Cream. All of the trialed entries are now tested and evaluated in our in test garden throughout the summer. We would like to thank the following companies for their participation in this year's Greenhouse Trial: PAUL ECKE RANCH: = http://www.ecke.com FIDES North America: = http://www.fidesnorthamerica.com