Is my clone worthy of a registered cultivar?
May 13, 2022 9:37:50 GMT -5
hcarlton, alexis, and 5 more like this
Post by meizzwang on May 13, 2022 9:37:50 GMT -5
I just wrote this long email and thought it would be worth sharing with the group!
The answer to this question is that it's truly a matter of opinion, there's no right or wrong answer. Any clone that shows unique characteristics can be registered as a cultivar, but what is your end goal? Do you just want to make sure it's documented forever so that others can see pictures and descriptions of it later on? Do you just want to it be a part of the many cultivars that are in the history books? Is it important for you to have it spread around collections 100+ years from now? A clone that is successful and withstands the test of time is easy to propagate. It is of importance to you that breeders find this clone valuable and extensively use it to create new hybrids? these are complex and difficult things to figure out: breeding is art, and art is a matter of opinion.
Another dynamic to this whole thing is politics: even if the general public doesn't particularly care for a specific clone ,if they aren't given choices and have no clue there are other options out there, they'll still like it and go for it! If that plant is mass tissue cultured and put on the shelves of every grocery store, it'll still sell if the marketing efforts are strong, but that clone will eventually die off once it is no longer mass produced and is no longer being promoted. A cultivar that stands the test of time promotes and sells itself, and performs well under a multitude of different environmental conditions.
As you probably know, I have created and selected probably over 100 clones that I think are all cultivar worthy and worthy of being the backbone to any breeding program, yet only one of them has been registered thus far. Even without registering any of these plants with the ICPS, I've documented their history, shared them publicly, and they circulate globally as though they are registered cultivars. They are under extremely high demand! They easily command the prices of registered cultivars! Maybe officially registering them is something I'll get to later on when there's time, but it's not important to me because all the goals have been met. Most of theme already have world wide recognition, they're already being extensively bred with, and they're highly desired by many, which suggests they will withstand the test of time and still be well known long after I'm gone. Those are the criteria I search for in a clone that is worthy.
I remember asking people in this forum if they thought this was worthy of a registered cultivar, and immediately some said they thought it was too similar looking to other registered cultivars and therefore not worthy: Almost the entire group, after reading that opinion, agreed and most people didn't think it was cultivar worthy.
I asked a completely different group of growers whether or not they thought it was cultivar worthy or not, and without having their perspectives skewed, there was quite the opposite reaction, the majority of them loved it and they voted that it was worthy! I know this because over a dozen people shortly thereafter paid hundreds of dollars each for this clone, they voted with their wallet, not with their mouths! A wholesale operation contacted me and wanted to put this clone in tissue culture because of its short size, attractive color, and abundance of traps, but I turned that down.
Long story short and to sum up, when it comes to deciding whether or not to register a clone, all that really matters is what the breeder thinks about it and what their goals are for publishing it. However, if you want a cultivar to stand the test of time, what matters is whether or not the general public likes it!
-Mike
The answer to this question is that it's truly a matter of opinion, there's no right or wrong answer. Any clone that shows unique characteristics can be registered as a cultivar, but what is your end goal? Do you just want to make sure it's documented forever so that others can see pictures and descriptions of it later on? Do you just want to it be a part of the many cultivars that are in the history books? Is it important for you to have it spread around collections 100+ years from now? A clone that is successful and withstands the test of time is easy to propagate. It is of importance to you that breeders find this clone valuable and extensively use it to create new hybrids? these are complex and difficult things to figure out: breeding is art, and art is a matter of opinion.
Another dynamic to this whole thing is politics: even if the general public doesn't particularly care for a specific clone ,if they aren't given choices and have no clue there are other options out there, they'll still like it and go for it! If that plant is mass tissue cultured and put on the shelves of every grocery store, it'll still sell if the marketing efforts are strong, but that clone will eventually die off once it is no longer mass produced and is no longer being promoted. A cultivar that stands the test of time promotes and sells itself, and performs well under a multitude of different environmental conditions.
As you probably know, I have created and selected probably over 100 clones that I think are all cultivar worthy and worthy of being the backbone to any breeding program, yet only one of them has been registered thus far. Even without registering any of these plants with the ICPS, I've documented their history, shared them publicly, and they circulate globally as though they are registered cultivars. They are under extremely high demand! They easily command the prices of registered cultivars! Maybe officially registering them is something I'll get to later on when there's time, but it's not important to me because all the goals have been met. Most of theme already have world wide recognition, they're already being extensively bred with, and they're highly desired by many, which suggests they will withstand the test of time and still be well known long after I'm gone. Those are the criteria I search for in a clone that is worthy.
I remember asking people in this forum if they thought this was worthy of a registered cultivar, and immediately some said they thought it was too similar looking to other registered cultivars and therefore not worthy: Almost the entire group, after reading that opinion, agreed and most people didn't think it was cultivar worthy.
I asked a completely different group of growers whether or not they thought it was cultivar worthy or not, and without having their perspectives skewed, there was quite the opposite reaction, the majority of them loved it and they voted that it was worthy! I know this because over a dozen people shortly thereafter paid hundreds of dollars each for this clone, they voted with their wallet, not with their mouths! A wholesale operation contacted me and wanted to put this clone in tissue culture because of its short size, attractive color, and abundance of traps, but I turned that down.
Long story short and to sum up, when it comes to deciding whether or not to register a clone, all that really matters is what the breeder thinks about it and what their goals are for publishing it. However, if you want a cultivar to stand the test of time, what matters is whether or not the general public likes it!
-Mike