ISHS Acta Horticulturae 673: IX International Symposium on Flower Bulbs
THE EFFECT OF CORM WEIGHT AND LOW TEMPERATURE TREATMENT ON THE FLOWERING OF ERYTHRONIUM PAGODA |
| Authors: | K. Shinoda, N. Murata |
| Keywords: | corm size, forcing, flower formation, potted plant |
| Abstract:
Interspecific hybrid Erythronium Pagoda is a yellow, large-flowered very vigorous cultivar. Recently it is being grown as a flowering pot plant in Japan. The present experiment describes the flowering responses of E. Pagoda. The first floret initiated in late May (just after flowering), the pistil differentiated in mid June. Corms of different size (0.4-33.7 g) were planted during autumn. The following spring, 0.4-1.4 g corms did not flower, whereas 53% of 2.8 g corms, 87% of 4.0-6.0 g corms and 93% of 10.4 g corms flowered. The minimal corm weight required for 100% flowering was 15 g. As the mother corm weight increased, the number of florets, scape length and number of the daughter corms increased significantly. To assess the effect of low temperature treatment on flowering, corms were planted in plastic containers on 20 October, then stored at 5°C from 0 to three months. After low temperature treatment, corms were grown in a greenhouse heated to 10°C. Most of the corms did not flower when they were chilled for 0, 0.5 or one month. As the chilling periods increased, the flowering percentage, the number of florets, and flower stem length increased significantly. The results indicate that E. Pagoda requires a minimum of 2.5 cold months at 5°C for optimal flowering. | |
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