SELECTION CRITERIA FOR PROTEA FLOWERING POT PLANTS

Potted flowering proteas are marketable novel products of which the basic production technology has recently been established.
The first prototypes have elicited a favourable response from marketing experts.
A major objective at this stage is to identify a reasonably broad range of genotypes that will yield good potted items using simple and economic production methods.
These methods include both the 8-month "rapid" and conventional 18-month production systems.
The objectives of the present study were to select within a range of pot plant candidates those items suitable for shaping shoots on the cutting mother plant using both the above production systems.
Candidates were evaluated for field response to:

• chemical branching treatments

• growth retarding treatment with paclobutrazol.

In the nursery phase of production, candidates were further evaluated for:

• ability to root under ambient temperature (no bottom heating) in full sunlight

• disease tolerance.

Generally candidates responded well to growth regulator manipulations in the field.
However statistical interaction between genotype and treatment effects was strong, indicating the need to evaluate candidates individually for response to treatment combinations.
Although 8-month rapid production was possible with certain selections, other promising material could only be produced successfully over 18 months.
The best items were Leucospermum ‘Ballerina’, L. tottum (T741206) and L. mundii (T821004), all 8-month items; and L. oleifolium (T850903) and Serruria ‘Fairy’, 18-month items.

III International Protea Research Symposium

G.J. Brits

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1995.387.5