THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHRYSANTHEMUM PLANTS RAISED FROM SEEDS OR CUTTINGS IN THEIR RESPONSE TO LIGHT INTENSITY

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 125: Symposium on Chrysanthemum

Author:	J. de Jong
Abstract: In our selection programme, aimed at adaptation to low light and low temperature conditions, seedlings have been screened in the winter in a greenhouse at 13°C. This resulted in a low percentage of flowering plants, although the parents flowered freely. Some of the non-flowering seedlings were kept, propagated vegetatively and trialled again the next winter. This time many of the original non-flowering seedlings flowered, which suggests that cuttings flower more easily than seedlings. A number of experiments are presented which deal with the flowering ability of seedlings and cuttings. The main results are: The inability of seedlings to flower is most pronounced under low light conditions. A gradient of increasing readiness to flower exists from the base to the apex of the seedling. The apical meristem of the seedling is less ready to flower than the top axillarly meristems. The duration of the 'juvenile period' differs between seedlings. The number of days to flowering of seedlings does not necessarily correspond to the number of days to flowering of cuttings taken from the seedlings.
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