Nurse-bed 'One Crop' Carnations
Subject:
New York State Flower Industries , Inc
Abstract:
As a further refinement of the 'one crop' system and at the suggestion of Clair Maier of Bent Mountain, Virginia, consideration was given to nurse-bedding carnation plants before benching. The proposed scheme was to pot rooted cuttings in 3-inch peat pots, place the plants on capillary benches (see the NYSFG Bui. 275)—pot-to pot and pinch in 7 to 10 days. Lights would be used to produce an 18 hour photoperiod immediately after the pinch. Starting 4 weeks after potting and every 2 weeks up to the 10th week, a group of plants would be benched at a 6" x 7" spacing, also under lights. The lighting would be maintained until the buds were about the size of a pea. The experiment was started November 26 and the cuttings were benched December 26, January 9, January 23, and February 6. Cultural practices were normal and fertilizer levels and spray programs were as suggested in Cornell Recommendations for Commercial Floriculture Crops. Twenty-two cultivars were used in this study and the cut tings were supplied through the courtesy of Yoder Brothers, Barberton, Ohio and W. W. Thomson Company, West Hartford, Connecticut. Data recorded included length of stem, weight, grade, number of flowers per square foot and number of days to peak production. Days to peak production was determined by recording the date each flower was cut and then deter mining the date on which the middle flower was cut. The results of the days to peak production for the 22 cultivars and the 4 plantings are shown in Table 1. Also shown in Table 1 is the 'bench time', which is the number of days the plants were in the bench until peak production.
Keywords: Photoperiod pinch Peak production spring crop peat pots
Libraries: Floriculture