Cultivars

A cultivar is a named plant variety selected or maintained for particular characteristics. In AgroForest Designer, every cultivar remains connected to one parent species in the plant database while storing its own editable design values.

Cultivars are account-owned working records with optional public-library sharing, not verified botanical registrations. The current visibility control does not guarantee that the cultivar name is hidden from every public plant view, so never use a cultivar name for confidential information. Check names and properties against reliable nursery, breeder, trial, or botanical sources before using them for procurement or implementation.

Understand when to use a cultivar

Use the parent plant when the exact variety has not been chosen or when species-level information is sufficient. Create or select a cultivar when the named variety materially affects the design, for example through:

• mature height or width;
• plant format, growth rate, or lifecycle;
• crown shape or crown density;
• harvest start or end date;
• hardiness, moisture, soil, pH, or light preferences;
• edible parts, functions, or other cultivar-specific notes.

Do not create a cultivar merely to personalise one species for one recipe or one map marker. Recipe personalisation and the Digital Planting Plan's Plant editor are better suited to site- or plan-specific assumptions. A cultivar is a reusable record that can appear in several recipes.

The current cultivar form does not provide structured flowering-period or fruit/nut-characteristic fields. Record supported information of that kind in Description or Details, or use the pollinator tools for structured flowering records where applicable.

Know the access and ownership rules

You must be signed in to open the cultivar management pages, create a cultivar, duplicate a public cultivar, or add one to a recipe.

The main navigation entry Library > Plants and recipes > Cultivars opens My cultivars. This overview contains only records owned by your account, grouped by their mother or parent plant. Public cultivars created by other users appear in the library for the relevant parent species. Plant-search cards can also expose cultivar-name badges independently of the public-library setting.

Only the owner can edit or delete a cultivar. A public cultivar is visible for reuse by other signed-in users, but it does not become jointly editable.

Dashboard Usage can show cultivar usage for the current account. Access and capacity can change, so use the values displayed in the application rather than relying on a fixed number in this guide. See Plans and Feature Access if a management action is unavailable.

Find cultivars for a parent plant

There are two useful routes.

Start from My cultivars

Open Cultivars from the navigation. My cultivars groups your existing varieties by Mother plant. Open a plant group to see its cultivar library, or select Create cultivar to start the guided setup for any database plant.

Start from a plant

Find the species under Search plants, then select Manage cultivars on its advanced-search card. If you started in Plant database, note the parent species and use Cultivars > Create cultivar; the catalogue profile does not currently provide the same management action. The parent-specific page is titled Cultivars for followed by the scientific name.

That page contains:

• Cultivars List, showing only your own cultivars for the parent;
• Details, Edit, and Delete actions for those records;
• New Cultivar, which starts another record for the same parent;
• Public Cultivars, showing public records created by other users for the same parent.

Plant-name search does not search cultivar names. Always find or choose the parent species first.

Create a cultivar with guided setup

The guided route is the clearest option when you have not already opened a parent plant.

1. Open Cultivars.
2. Select Create cultivar.
3. In the Mother plant step, search by scientific or common name.
4. Select the correct parent species.
5. In Confirm, check the scientific name, common name, and layer.
6. Select Continue to cultivar details.
7. Review the inherited values, complete the cultivar-specific information, and select Save cultivar.

The progress indicator's final step is Cultivar details. Selecting a mother plant is not reversible inside the details form; use Back in the wizard or Cancel in the form if the wrong species was chosen.

From a parent-specific cultivar library, select New Cultivar to skip the mother-plant selection and open the same details form directly.

Review the inherited values first

A new cultivar starts with many properties copied from its parent plant. This is intentional and provides a usable comparison point, but inherited data is not proof that the value applies to the cultivar.

Before saving:

1. Enter the cultivar name.
2. Check every displayed inherited field.
3. Replace values supported by cultivar-specific evidence.
4. Clear values that you cannot support where the field offers an empty choice. For a required dropdown with no blank option, choose cautiously and record the uncertainty in Details.
5. Record provenance and uncertainty in Details.
6. Check Publicly visible deliberately.

Changing a cultivar does not change the shared parent-plant record. Conversely, the cultivar is a separate saved record and should not be assumed to update automatically when parent data changes later.

Complete the cultivar form

The form is divided into several visual sections. Many fields are optional, but some dropdowns have no empty choice and will submit a selected value. An unreviewed inherited or default value can be more misleading than a documented uncertainty, so explain any forced-but-uncertain choice in Details.

Enter names and basic information

Under Basic Information:

• Cultivar name is the cultivar epithet, such as Discovery; do not repeat the complete parent scientific name unless it is genuinely part of the cultivar name.
• English common name, Dutch common name, or French common name is shown according to Profile > Preferences.
• Layer stores one or more vegetation layers.
• Soil Moisture stores recorded moisture preferences.
• Format stores the plant form or size category.
• Growth Rate and Age store growth and lifecycle classifications.
• Crown Type and Crown Density describe the stored canopy representation.

The application combines the parent scientific name and cultivar name when displaying the record, so entering only the cultivar epithet avoids duplicated names.

Only the common-name field for your plant-name preference is shown. The other language values are preserved when you save, and changing this preference does not translate the rest of the interface. Do not place several translated names into one language field.

Enter the harvest period

Under Harvest period, enter day and month for Start Harvest and End of Harvest.

For dependable calendar output, provide a complete, calendar-valid start and end. A day without its month, a month without its day, or an impossible date such as 31 February cannot produce a dependable interval. The calendar can represent a valid period that crosses the end of the year.

Harvest timing can shift substantially with region, rootstock, crop load, weather, and management. Use the dates as a documented design assumption, not a harvest guarantee.

This is a harvest period, not a flowering period. The cultivar form currently has no structured bloom-date input.

Review features and site preferences

Under Features, review:

• Edible part;
• Function;
• Soil;
• pH;
• Light;
• USDA Hardiness (Min) and USDA Hardiness (Max).

The minimum hardiness zone cannot be greater than the maximum. Hardiness zones describe only part of climatic suitability and do not account for summer heat, wet winters, wind, frost pockets, chilling requirements, or late frost.

Some fields accept more than one value. Remove an inherited option when it is not supported for the named cultivar instead of leaving contradictory choices.

Set ratings, colour, and dimensions

Under Reviews, the Edibility and Medicinal controls store database-style ratings. These ratings do not establish safety, efficacy, preparation, or dosage.

Color controls the stored display colour used by supported visualisations. It is a design colour, not necessarily a botanical description of foliage, flowers, or fruit.

Under Dimensions, enter mature Height (m) and Width (m). These values can influence plant footprints and spacing displays in the Digital Planting Plan. Use mature dimensions appropriate to the cultivar and intended rootstock or training system where known.

The data model can store year-by-year dimensions, but those controls are not currently exposed in this cultivar form. Do not expect to enter separate 1-, 5-, 10-, or 20-year sizes here.

Add description, details, and provenance

The Description field stores the English cultivar description. Hidden Dutch and French description values are preserved when the form is saved; the plant common-name preference does not change descriptive content.

Use Details for concise supporting context, for example:

• rootstock or training assumptions;
• trial location or climate context;
• data source and access date;
• uncertainty or conflicting sources;
• known disease resistance or management notes;
• why a parent value was retained or changed.

There is no dedicated source field in the current form. A consistent entry such as Source: nursery catalogue, accessed 2026-08-09 in Details makes later verification easier. Do not copy protected text at length; summarise the relevant value and retain a lawful reference.

Fruit or nut quality, flowering time, disease resistance, and similar characteristics have no dedicated structured input in this form. Add them to Description or Details only when supported, and explain the context.

Choose visibility and save

The Publicly visible checkbox controls whether other signed-in users can discover this record in Public Cultivars for the same parent plant and duplicate it. New cultivar records default to public visibility, so inspect the checkbox before every first save. Clearing it does not currently guarantee that the cultivar name disappears from every public plant-search badge; keep names and all potentially exposed fields free of sensitive information.

Leave it selected only when:

• the information is suitable for community reuse;
• the notes contain no personal, private, or proprietary material;
• you are comfortable with other users making independent copies;
• the record clearly states important uncertainty.

Clear it to remove the record from Public Cultivars and prevent other users from duplicating it through that library. This is not full name anonymity because of the search-badge limitation described above. Then select Save cultivar. Select Cancel to return without saving.

Compare a saved cultivar with its parent

After the first save, open Edit. The edit page includes Comparison with the original plant. Expand it to compare supported parent and cultivar properties.

Use the comparison to find:

• inherited values that were never verified;
• fields that intentionally differ from the species;
• accidental omissions or contradictory classifications;
• harvest or crown values that need another source.

The comparison appears only after a cultivar has been saved because a new unsaved record does not yet exist for comparison. Not every internal field is displayed in the table, so the editable form remains the authoritative view of what you are about to save.

Find and duplicate public cultivars

Open Cultivars for the relevant parent and scroll to Public Cultivars. This section lists public records created by other users; it does not repeat your own cultivars.

When public records are available:

1. Use Search by cultivar name or author... to filter the list. The live filter can also match text in Details.
2. Review the displayed cultivar name, author, and available notes.
3. Select Duplicate on the most suitable record.
4. Wait for the success state and page refresh.
5. Find the new record in your own Cultivars List.
6. Select Edit and verify every copied value.

The duplicate is a complete independent copy and is not publicly listed for duplication by default. Editing it does not change the original, and later edits to the original do not update your copy. Its name can still be exposed by the current plant-search badge. Change the copied visibility only after review.

Public means shared by a user, not approved or complete. Check the source, region, rootstock, units, and intended use before relying on copied values. If no public cultivar appears, it may not be publicly listed, may belong to a different parent record, or may not yet exist.

Add a cultivar to a planting recipe

A cultivar is selected within the context of its parent species in a standard planting recipe.

1. Add the parent species to the planting recipe.
2. Make sure the cultivar belongs to your account. Duplicate a public cultivar first if necessary.
3. Open the recipe detail page.
4. Find the parent plant card.
5. Under Cultivars, select the checkbox beside the required cultivar name.
6. Select the information icon when you need to inspect the cultivar details.

The checkbox saves immediately; there is no separate recipe-save action. Clear it to remove the cultivar selection. You can select more than one owned cultivar for the same parent when the recipe intentionally includes several varieties.

Only your own cultivars are offered on the recipe card. The parent species remains part of the recipe; selecting a cultivar refines the variety information and does not delete the parent record.

See Planting Recipes for the complete recipe workflow.

Understand downstream effects

Cultivar values can be used by later features:

• the recipe identifies which named varieties are intended;
• the harvest calendar uses selected cultivar rows in place of the general parent row for that species;
• the Digital Planting Plan can offer selected cultivars for placement and use their available names, dimensions, colour, or harvest information;
• recipe and project outputs can reflect the cultivar selection where that feature supports it.

The harvest calendar needs a valid start and end date to draw a cultivar's full interval. If selected cultivars have incomplete dates, their row can lack useful seasonal coverage even when the parent plant has harvest data.

Editing a cultivar changes the single cultivar record referenced by every recipe that uses it. Review affected recipes and future design work after changing important dimensions, dates, or classifications. Do not assume an already saved or exported historical plan will be rewritten; open it and verify the result.

Edit or delete a cultivar

Open the parent-specific Cultivars List and use:

• Details to inspect the saved profile;
• Edit to change the record and its visibility;
• Delete to open the irreversible deletion confirmation.

Before a major edit, note which recipes use the cultivar and preserve the source for the replacement value. A cultivar is reusable, so an apparently local edit can affect several workflows.

Before deleting:

1. Open relevant planting recipes.
2. Decide whether another cultivar should be selected instead.
3. Check any harvest and planning output that depends on the record.
4. Confirm that you are deleting your copy, not merely trying to hide it from the public list.

Deleting a cultivar also removes its cultivar-selection relationships from recipes. It does not delete the parent species or someone else's original public cultivar, but the deletion cannot be undone. Clear Publicly visible when you want to keep the record but stop offering it for discovery and duplication in Public Cultivars.

Apply responsible data practices

Cultivar behavior depends on more than the cultivar name. Where relevant, document:

• rootstock, propagation method, or training system;
• source nursery or breeder;
• observation region and climate;
• whether dimensions are measured, published, or estimated;
• whether harvest dates describe first, typical, or final harvest;
• disease pressure and management assumptions;
• date on which an online source was consulted.

Check plant breeders' rights, patents, trademarks, propagation restrictions, invasive-species rules, and local sales or planting restrictions independently. A record in AgroForest Designer does not grant a right to propagate, sell, import, or plant the cultivar.

Never use an edibility or medicinal rating as proof that a plant part is safe. Cultivar identity, preparation, dose, allergy, interaction, and contamination all require appropriate verification.

Troubleshoot cultivar management

The mother plant is missing from guided setup

Search by the scientific name or a common name and confirm that the species exists in Plant database. A cultivar cannot be created without a parent plant record. If the species itself is missing, follow the reviewed Request plant workflow described in Finding Plants.

The form contains unexpected values

New records inherit parent properties. Review each field and replace or clear values that are not supported for the cultivar. On later edits, recheck site preferences and dimensions rather than assuming every displayed value is cultivar-specific.

The form rejects the hardiness range

Make sure USDA Hardiness (Min) is not greater than USDA Hardiness (Max).

Harvest information is absent from the calendar

Enter a complete, calendar-valid Start Harvest and End of Harvest, save the cultivar, and confirm that it is selected in the recipe. The harvest calendar may also depend on account access.

A public cultivar does not appear

Open the library for the exact same parent species. Your own cultivar is shown in Cultivars List, not repeated under Public Cultivars. Records that another user did not publicly list are not discoverable in that section, even though their names may still appear as search-card badges.

A public cultivar cannot be edited

Select Duplicate, then edit the independent copy in your own list. Only the original owner can edit or delete the shared source record.

A cultivar is missing from a recipe

Confirm that the parent species is already in the standard planting recipe and that the cultivar belongs to your account. Public cultivars must be duplicated before they appear as your selectable cultivar controls. Refresh the recipe after creating or duplicating the record.

The wrong language field is visible

Open Profile > Preferences and check Plant common-name language. The form shows that common-name field while the interface and description remain English. Change the preference before editing a different common-name translation; values in the other language fields are preserved.

You no longer want to share a cultivar

Open Edit, clear Publicly visible, and select Save cultivar. This removes public-library discovery and duplication but does not currently guarantee that the name is hidden from plant-search badges. Existing copies made by other users are independent and are not removed.

Continue the workflow

Return to Finding Plants to locate a parent species, continue with Planting Recipes to select the cultivar, or use the Digital Planting Plan to place it in a project. Use Procurement when the exact cultivar must be sourced from a nursery. Return to Getting Started for the full first-design sequence.