The tomato is probably the most popular vegetable in Germany, as can be seen from the constantly increasing demand and sales figures in the Lubera® online shop. Therefore it comes as no surprise that Lubera® has set up its own tomato breeding programme after a short planning phase. And the first varieties of this breeding effort will be offered starting in spring 2022 both on lubera.com as finished goods and at Lubera Edibles as young plants for all interested plant producers. Markus Kobelt, the founder and owner of Lubera® and co-managing director of Lubera Edibles answers Frederik Vollert's questions about the new Open Sky® outdoor tomatoes.

The second Corona year is behind us – and the pandemic has had a major impact on the green market. The sector was doing very well in the past two years, and there was an excess demand for knowledge and information about gardens and plants, but also for products. The demand clearly exceeded the supply in practically all segments. However, it is questionable whether this unnatural circumstance will continue. Since summer 2021, the situation seems to have returned to pre-Corona levels, at least in terms of demand for information. The big questions are these: does this also affect the plants? What can we expect in 2022? How should we react to this in plant production? Frederik Vollert, host of the Gardener's Radio, discusses the prospects for 2022 with Markus Kobelt.

Gooseberries are one of the classics of the berry garden. Actually, they would have tremendous potential as fruits: they still represent the bush berry fruits that have the largest fruits – more bite, more juice, more flavour is not possible. But the historical and far too mildew-prone varieties, the mildew itself, the thorns as well as the antiquated image still hinder this fruit species. Here in the Gardener’s Radio podcast we would like to highlight the most important aspects of gooseberry production.
Podcast content:
• How important are gooseberries in the marketplace?
• How important are gooseberries to Lubera Edibles?
• Which gooseberry young plants are there?
• When should which plants be potted and with which pot size?
• Powdery mildew and leaf drop disease
• The longest day!
• How many times should the plants be cut back?
• How can plants be produced so that they are still beautiful in the summer?
• What about standards?

In loose succession, we also want to talk about our production in this Gardener's Radio podcast. How exactly are finished plants produced from Lubera Edibles young plants? What are the sizes? What are the problems and what do you have to watch out for? So that we don't get lost in the shuffle, we'll be joined by Robert Maierhofer, the plant and production manager at Lubera, which has two production nurseries in Switzerland and Germany. Nevertheless, we cannot, of course, provide the universal instructions for production here. But we can give some exciting hints and tips on how to tackle problems – and how, at the end of production, perfect plants can bear fruit in the customer's garden immediately...
Podcast content:
• How important are red and black currants in the marketplace?
• How important are currants for Lubera Edibles?
• Which young plants are there and what can be achieved with them?
• When should which plants be potted and with which pot size?
• Is powdery mildew a problem?
• The longest day!
• How many times should the plants be cut back?
• The ultimate tricks during the production
• How can plants be produced so that they are still beautiful in the summer?

Raspberries are booming. This is true for the fruit market, where consumption is currently doubling every 4-6 years. It's also true for the home garden market. But do we really need the 30 varieties that Lubera Edibles has in its range? And is there a need for new raspberry varieties at all? Is there any progress to be made? With these questions in mind, Frederik Vollert and Markus Kobelt highlight the importance and place of the new raspberry families: salmon raspberries, Chef® raspberries and Schlaraffia® raspberries.
Podcast content:
• Are there too many raspberries?
• Do we even need new raspberry varieties?
• What are the variety groups?
• What are salmon raspberries?
• What are Chef® raspberries?
• What is the Schlaraffia® concept?
• What is still coming out of the raspberry breeding programme? Is there still progress to be made?

It sounds like a plant breeder's Christmas wish list: a perennial plant that is easy to grow in our garden and in pots; it is sustainable and simple with leaves that contain a natural sweetener called rubusoside and other healthy ingredients that are 200 times sweeter than sugar. The dream comes true with the Sweetleaf® raspberry, which will be available starting this spring! This will give the hobby gardener a valuable and, above all, much easier to grow alternative to stevia or “normal”, more harmful sugar.
Podcast content:
• What is the Sweetleaf® raspberry?
• How sweet is it?
• What exactly makes it sweet?
• What are the other health benefits?
• How are the leaves harvested? What's the point of having a plant?
• How can I grow it?
• How hardy is it?
• Can it be grown in the garden or in a pot?

Blueberries everywhere, strawberries all year round and the health values of raspberries and blackberries are the talk of the town. To give just one example: there are significantly more blueberries sold in the home garden market today than currants (all colours and shapes) and gooseberries combined. What happens to the specialties? Do they still belong in the assortment? Can one continue to breed them? Markus Kobelt and Frederik Vollert discuss these questions in this podcast: why black is the new berry colour...
Podcast content:
• Why does Lubera care about such “Cinderella” fruit varieties?
• Is it worth it?
• What are the breeding goals?
• What does the current cassis range look like?
• What is the status of powdery mildew resistance?
• And what are the specialties?
• Is there a need for Josta at all?
• What exactly are Josta plants and how did they come about?
• Josta breeding at Lubera
• What is your breeder's dream with Josta and Cassissima®?

After all, Lubera originated as a fruit and berry specialist, and Lubera Edibles and its predecessor and partner company Mayer produces and mainly sells berry young plants. Why are we now suddenly offering vegetables? And now Lubera is also starting to breed in the vegetable sector – do we even have a chance against the giants on the market? Markus Kobelt, interviewed by Frederik Vollert, talks about the why and wherefore of vegetable breeding at Lubera and also reveals many things about the project portfolio.
Podcast content:
• How do you get from fruit and berries to vegetables?
• Are there really synergies?
• Checking in again on the home garden approach: is it really that much different?
• What criteria do you use now to select the species that you bred? Is it all on a whim?
• Vegetative propagation of tomatoes and eggplants? What is the vision there?
• What is the current breeding portfolio?
• When will the first results be available?

If we offer and promote Everlasting Vegetables as a new holistic vegetable assortment, then the question arises as to why we need it, for what purpose and for whom exactly we produce or sell it. In short: Is there a market for it? Or can we create the market? And do we want to create the market at all? After all, one could argue that it does not make much business sense to cannibalise a market where you can sell plants every year with a group of plants where you only sell new plants every 5 years.

Eternal vegetables? Can vegetables be eternal? Of course, there is a bit of a wink in this term: nothing is eternal, and certainly not anything living... But the term - a Lubera brand, by the way - positions itself perfectly against what we traditionally perceive as vegetables: Vegetables are the quick garden culture, they come to leave right away. Planted, and already harvested again. What is so fast in cultivation (more and faster gives more) causes problems in logistics (of one's own household, from the customer's point of view). Buying seedlings again now? And where I always drive by, the desired species/variety is just sold out again. Everlasting vegetables bring calm to this hurry and bustle. How? You can find out in this podcast.