10.5937/ratpov50-4635 = Production of yellow gentian (Gentiana lutea L.) nursery plants suitable for transplanting and cultivation under dry farming conditions in mountain region of Serbia

Abstract

This paper deals with development of yellow gentian nursery plants in the open winter beds established in the mountainous region of Serbia at 1000 m a.s.l. Number, weight and size of one-, two- and three-year-old nursery plants were measured in succession for two years. The one-year-old nursery plants had an average 1.5 g fresh weight and 0.4 g dry weight, while the average length and width of the thickened root parts were 6.0 cm and 0.4 cm, respectively. The average fresh and dry root weights of the two-year-old nursery plants were 4.9 g and 1.4 g, respectively, with the length and width of the thickened root part 10.8 cm and 1.2 cm, respectively. The average root weights of the three-year-old plantlets were 15.6 g (fresh weight) and 4.7 g (dry weight), but they were too branchy and difficult for transplanting into the field. The average number of yellow gentian nursery plants per m2 of the open winter bed, following the first, second and third growing year were 714, 243 and 95, respectively. Two-year-old nursery plants proved to be the most suitable for establishing large-scale plantations for the production of yellow gentian root under dry farming conditions in the mountains of Serbia.