TROPICAL RHODODENDRONS AS POTTED PLANTS

Tropical rhododendrons are native to the tropical mountain forests of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific islands.
All are evergreen and have a wide array of flower shapes and colors, with several species having fragrance.
Their growth habit tends to be lanky, and flowering times are uncertain.
These experiments were conducted to find ways to produce compact plants and to control flowering.
Synthetic cytokinins (200 ppm) applied as foliar sprays to the foliage of branches pruned back to a whorl of leaves stimulated 94% (TDZ) to 96% (PBA) bud break, versus 88% for pruned control plants.
As with temperate rhododendrons, most of the growth retardants were effective in controlling elongation growth as drenches, while sprays were less effective.
Paclobutrazol (PBZ) was effective at 1 to 2 mg per 15 cm pot.
Anthesis was reached 21 to 26 weeks after treatment.
The ease with which cuttings root, their rapid growth rates, and their responsiveness to chemical branch induction with cytokinins and to vegetative growth control with retardants appeal to commercial growers because of the uniform product that results.

XXV International Horticultural Congress, Part 3: Culture Techniques with Special Emphasis on Environmental Implications, Disease, Pest Control and Integrated Pest Strategies

R. A. Criley

Rhododendron, retardant, chlormequat, flurprimidol, daminozide, paclobutrazol, uniconazole, cytokinin, 6-benzylaminopurine, thidiazuron, PBA, potted plant, Vireya-rhododendron

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.513.14