Increasing nutrient levels promote growth and flower quality in lilies grown under soilless culture

Malik G. Al-Ajlouni, Jamal Y. Ayad and Yahia A. Othman
Additional contact information
Jamal Y. Ayad: Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Yahia A. Othman: Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

Horticultural Science, 2017, vol. 44, issue 4, 171-177

Abstract: This research was aimed at assessing the impact of different doses of nutrients on growth and flower quality of the Asiatic hybrid Lilium ((Lilium × elegans Thunb.) cv. 'Fangio') under the soilless culture. Five nutrient (fertigation) regimes were applied (T1: daily, T2: twice a week, T3: weekly, T4: twice a month and T5: control). Increasing the nutrient supply increased chlorophyll content index (SPAD, 45-93%), leaf area (30-55%), number of flowers per plant (25-67%) and substrate electrical conductivity (EC: 28-300%) compared to control. Although T3 (weekly nutrient supply) had lower shoot N, P, K+ and Ca+2 concentrations than T1, this regimen increased the number of flower buds by 20% and flower longevity by 56% compared to T1. Overall, weekly nutrient application is effective at maintaining flower quality and yield in the 'Fangio' lily, and compares favourably with programs in which fertigation is more frequent and the level of total applied nutrients is higher.

Keywords: plant longevity; nitrogen; ornamental plant; bulbs; tuff (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/166/2016-HORTSCI.html (text/html)
http://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/166/2016-HORTSCI.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlhor:v:44:y:2017:i:4:id:166-2016-hortsci

DOI: 10.17221/166/2016-HORTSCI

Access Statistics for this article

Horticultural Science is currently edited by Ing. Eva Karská (Executive Editor)

More articles in Horticultural Science from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().