MODIFICATION OF GROWTH AND FLOWERING HABIT IN ORNITHOGALUM SPECIES UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS

During the past five years, several Ornithogalum cultivars have been introduced into Israel for cut flower production.
They are perennials, deciduous species with a synanthous phenology and under natural conditions, they normally produce one to two flowering scapes in late spring-early summer.

Attempts to advance flowering into the winter by treatments such as cold storage, photoperiod and temperature control after planting, only succeeded in advancing flowering by two to three weeks.
For this reason, the performance of some of these species was studied under high humidity in a plastic greenhouse in which temperatures were controlled to 14–16/26–31°C (min/max) and continuous irrigation and fertilization were applied throughout the year.
Under these conditions, all species became evergreen.
However, whereas O. arabicum and O. saundersiae flowered only in their natural flowering season, O. dubium and ‘Nova’ flowered almost continuously throughout the year.

VII International Symposium on Flowerbulbs

R. Shillo, A. Ronen, Z. Muchnik, E. Mathan, R. Moldavsky

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1997.430.29