Challenges in Organic Young Plant Production – A Review of the 2026 Season

Every young plant season is different. Weather conditions, light levels and temperature influence plant growth in new ways every year. In organic young plant production in particular, this requires continuous adjustment of cultivation practices, irrigation, fertilisation and plant health management.

The 2026 season also brought new challenges. In this review, we highlight the experiences we have gained and the insights that can be drawn from them for pot and container plant production. This...

In vitro propagation as a modern solution in young plant production

In vitro propagation is a regular topic of discussion in horticulture. Whilst it is an important component of reliable, high-quality young plant production for many businesses, others view it rather critically. Particularly in the organic sector and in European fruit growing, there are recurring reservations about this propagation method.

A closer look, however, reveals that in vitro propagation cannot be assessed in general terms. As with any propagation method, the results depend on the...

Ruby Best® & Ruby Fall® – The perfect raspberry pairing

There's something happening in the compact raspberry segment: two remarkable new additions are setting new standards. Discover Lowberry® Ruby Best® and Lowberry® Ruby Fall® – two varieties that impress not only with their exceptional growth, but above all with their perfectly coordinated ripening behaviour. Together, they provide continuous harvesting pleasure from early summer until well into autumn.

The standard berry and its alternatives

The 2 to 3 litre pot, tall and usually square, has become the standard in berry plant production. If you wander through the garden centres in the spring and analyse the offers with a gardener's eye, all you see is always the same: almost the same pot, with a slightly different but always large label, nota bene with as little information as possible. It is a well-known fact that customers cannot read. At least that's what our advertising consultants seem to think. Garden centres are no better. I...

Real-time plant breeding – a breeding tour in April

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...

Lubera Edibles Podcast #17: Lubera Edibles Novelties 2022/2023 - Part II

To include all the novelties in one podcast would have blown up the usual time frame. That's why we decided to do an additional novelty episode. In the first part, we went into our vegetable novelties and the citrus novelties again. In this episode, the second part of the novelties, Markus Kobelt, Co-Founder of Lubera Edibles, presents our blackberry novelties and explains why we also use varieties from other breeding programmes. Frederik Vollert, Product Developer at Lubera Edibles, presents...

Raspberry breeding at Lubera – the reinvention of the raspberry for the garden

Raspberry breeding has been one of the largest breeding programmes at Lubera for over 20 years. Ultimately, only apple breeding is even older, which basically began when the company was founded in 1993. The first goal of raspberry breeding was simple and overdue: it was to replace the dominant Autumn Bliss raspberry with better varieties. To do this, we crossed Autumn Bliss with Tulameen together with Reto Neuweiler from the Wädenswil Research Station – this then resulted in the Autumn...

Why black is the new colour of fruit! All about Cassissima®

If you take a closer look at the fruit counters of the supermarkets nowadays, you will find blueberries and strawberries all year round, even red currants are now offered throughout most of the year. However, blackcurrants are hardly ever found, if at all, and there is no trace of jostaberries. The latest generations of these black fruits have the opportunity to end their current Cinderella existence and become more than just a niche within a niche...