FOLIAR APPLICATION OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS AFFECTS GROWTH, FLOWERING, VASE LIFE AND CORM PRODUCTION OF GLADIOLUS GRANDIFLORUS L. UNDER CALCAREOUS SOIL

S. Hussain, M. Sajid, M. A. Anjum

Abstract: The present work was conducted to investigate the effect of foliar application of gibberellic acid and 6-benzyl aminopurine on growth, flowering, post-harvest life and corm production of gladiolus cv. Traderhorn. First spray of BAP or GA3 was applied 30 days and the second 60 days after planting at 0, 25, 50 or 100 mg L-1. Results revealed that both the plant growth regulators increased plant height, stalk length, number of florets per spike, fresh weight of florets, vase life of spikes and diameter and weight of corms as compared to the control. However, GA3 significantly increased chlorophyll content and spike length followed by BAP, while BAP significantly improved fresh weight of stalk followed by GA3. Regarding concentrations, 100 mg L-1 performed the best for plant height, leaf chlorophyll content, stalk length, fresh weight of stalk, spike length, number of florets per spike, fresh weight of florets, vase life of spikes and diameter and weight of corms, followed by 50 mg L-1 as compared to 25 mg L-1 and control treatment. Days to spike emergence, diameter of florets and number of corm produced per plant were not affected by the PGRs, their concentrations and combined effect of these two factors.

Keywords: BAP; GA3; leaf chlorophyll content; number of florets per spike; vase life

Date published: 2017-09-26