ISHS Acta Horticulturae 325: VI International Symposium on Flower Bulbs
THE TUBER COMMUNITY HOLDS THE ANSWER TO FLOWERING PROBLEMS IN POLIANTHES TUBEROSA |
| Author: | R. Shillo |
| Abstract:
In P. tuberosa flowering is related to the size of the tubers. Each planted tuber has the potential to produce one flower. Under optimal summer conditions, most of the large tubers do flower, but in the winter percentage flowering decreases dramatically. We have addressed this problem in a unique way: tuber communities are kept intact (instead of splitting them into single bulbs as is conventionally done) and in this way many shoots emerge and bloom almost simultaneously, even in the winter. With this system, there is a need for a rest period between the first (tuber production) cycle and the second (flowering) cycle. Without the rest period, flowering of the community is not synchronized. It is likely that in the community storage elements in small tubers and the basal plate are exploited by the large tubers for stalk development and flowering. | |
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