Choice picks from the Value Tosai this week (8/4/22)
Our Value Tosai offering has proven to be a great success, with one third of the koi posted onto our online koi for sale page being snapped up already! We listed a great range and there remain some lovely koi still available that would make fantastic growing on prospects. And in Showa, the variety with the big reveal as the sumi (black colour) starts to form in it's final pattern positions. That process can take several years but with these showas particularly from our LMC line, you will see substantial change in their second summer of growing - that's when they transition from tosai (one summer old), to nisai (two summers old).
I've picked out some of the top choices from the showa's that are still available on the website here: https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale and profiled them in this video.
Showa are a 3 coloured koi and the pattern styles vary depending on which of the 3 colours is dominant. For example, the kindai style has more white than black or red. And the hi showa style is a predominantly red showa with just a little white showing and of course the utsuri sumi (black) pattern.
The sumi pattern is the one aspect that makes a great showa, whatever the ratio of the other colours.
From the video, I've picked a few examples to show the different types currently available.
This Showa will make a great kindai style as the sumi develops predominantly on the white ground. The final effect will transformational.
This Showa has much more beni (red) pattern than the first one, and already shows some great quality sumi (black) coming through in the banded style that characterises utsuri sumi.
This is one of the smaller Value Tosai Showa's and has a great emerging pattern. A great balance between the beni (red), shiroji (white) and emerging sumi (black). Plus fantastic motoguro which is the black pattern at the base of the pectoral fins also gives this koi a lovely pattern balance and are also a great indicator towards good sumi development.
And finally, one of our Showa's that has what can only be described as a unique pattern! The sumi is deep and inky, which is particularly promising considering this is such a young Showa. The white nose, and offsetting of black on one side and red and white on the other, across the front half of the koi ; plus the small patch of red at the end of the tail tube allows for that large black area to give this koi a unique look. The white dorsal acting superbly in forming an attractive and unique pattern.
The Value Tosai launch details, including our thinking behind the range can be seen on our koi farm blog here: (https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/blogs/blog/online-launch-tonight-24th-march-at-9pm
For more details on how the Showa's from our LMC line develop their red, white and black patterns, please see the results from our 2019 grow and show competition 'Hey Presto, Showa!'. This tracks how young shows change, showing the before and after pictures of a good number of examples. https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/blogs/blog/hey-presto-showa-the-results?_pos=1&_sid=9d234bad1&_ss=r