ISHS Acta Horticulturae 813: VI International Symposium on New Floricultural Crops
PRODUCTION TRIALS OF ODONTONEMA STRICTUM (NEES) O. KUNTZE FOR FLOWER-POTS PRODUCTION |
| Authors: | S. Aprile, S. Agnello, G.V. Zizzo |
| Keywords: | exotic plants, ornamental pot, autumn-winter production |
| Abstract:
Odontonema strictum (Nees) O. Kuntze is an Acanthaceae herbaceous perennial, originating from the forests of Central America. Considering the ornamental potentiality of the plant, with persistent leaves and great flowers, it has been introduced in 2005 at C.R.A. - Istituto Sperimentale per la Floricoltura - Sezione di Palermo where many aspects relative to the propagation and pot cultivation have been studied. The aim was to evaluate production methods to obtain attractive flowering potted plants. Cuttings (1-4 plants/pot) were planted in 18- and 22-cm containers, filled with an organic standard substrate. The trial commenced in September 2006 and was conducted with a density of 15 pots.m-2 under 30% shade cloth in order to reduce the light intensity. A split-splot experimental design with 3 replicates, consisted of 5 pots for each treatment was used for the statistical design and analysis. During the experiment the following parameters were evaluated: number of shoots per pots, plant height, number of buds per pot, and the mean production time of the marketable pots was calculated. Data were analysed for the variance analysis. The results of the trial showed that under the temperature and light environment occurred during the experiment, it was possible to obtain flowering potted plants during autumn-winter season with different aesthetic effects in relation to the number of plants/pot and the pots diameter. The combination (4 plants/pot into 22 cm diameter) provided, in about 80 days, healthy and good quality compact plants with the highest number of shoots per pot (10), with a height of 51 cm and the highest number of flowered shoots per pot of 5.6. | |
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