FLURPRIMIDOL PREPLANT TUBER SOAKS FOR DAHLIA GROWTH CONTROL

Greenhouse forced ‘Purple Gem’ tuberous dahlias (Dahlia variabilis Willd) were given a ten-minute preplant tuber soak at concentrations of 0, 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/L (ppm) flurprimidol to evaluate growth control.
Flurprimidol preplant tuber soaks provided both advantageous and negative results.
Based on the best fit regression model, plants treated with concentrations of 11.6 and 20 mg/L flurprimidol were 26% shorter in height and had a 22% shorter canopy height, respectively, relative to the untreated control.
Compared to the untreated control, flurprimidol preplant tuber soaks of 20 and 40 mg/L detrimentally delayed flowering by 11 to 16 days, respectively.
Tuber soaks of ≤40 mg/L did not control plant diameter and this lack of response would be considered detrimental by commercial growers because of the inability to increase plant density on greenhouse benches.
Flurprimidol preplant tuber soaks would be a suitable option for retail growers who desire to have large diameter, bushy plants while controlling excessive plant height.

X International Symposium on Flower Bulbs and Herbaceous Perennials

B.E. Whipker, I. McCall, W. Buhler, B. Krug

Dahlia variabilis, plant growth regulator, Topflor

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.886.54