Abstract
The genus <em>Lachenalia</em> (Asparagaceae) represents spectacular and botanically diverse ornamental, bulbous species originating from Southern Africa. The main aim of this study was to determine, for the first time, the possibility of propagation of lachenalia cultivars (‘Namakwa’, ‘Rainbow Bells’, ‘Rupert’) by two in vivo techniques: chipping and scoring, which can be applied in procedures of bulb production. In the second part of the experiment, the plant growth and the quality of bulblets after the first season of cultivation in a greenhouse were estimated. The survival ability of bulb-scale segments and scored bulbs of the tested cultivars ranged from 62% to 95%. Chipping method generated eight bulblets per mother bulb with an average weight and diameter of 0.17 g and 0.29 cm, respectively, while scoring two/three bulblets per mother bulb with an average weight and diameter of 0.28 g and 0.5 cm, respectively. In the first season of cultivation, bulblets obtained by chipping produced longer leaves than those obtained by scoring technique. Only bulblets of ‘Rupert’ obtained by scoring showed the capacity to flower (‘Namakwa’ and ‘Rainbow Bells’ remained in a juvenile phase). When assessing the bulb yield after the first season of cultivation, it was found that irrespective of cultivar, bulbs obtained by chipping achieved twice the weight coefficient of those obtained by scoring.
Highlights
The genus Lachenalia belongs to the Asparagaceae family and is represented by 130 endemic bulbous species native to South Africa and Namibia
There have been no studies on other vegetative techniques of lachenalia propagation, such as chipping and scoring, that could be used on a larger scale in Published by Polish Botanical Society
The study revealed that scored bulbs of Lachenalia ‘Rupert’ started to form bulblets with greater dynamics in comparison to ‘Namakwa’ and ‘Rainbow Bells’; as a result, after 2 months of incubation half of scored bulbs produced bulblets (Fig. 2)
Summary
The genus Lachenalia belongs to the Asparagaceae family and is represented by 130 endemic bulbous species native to South Africa and Namibia. An interesting characteristic of the genus are spots and striped markings on the leaves and a multitude of flower colors [2] – for this reason, new cultivars are becoming increasingly popular as cut flowers and are cultivated as pot plants and for gardening [3]. Lachenalia, known internationally under the trade name “Cape Hyacinth”, has a potential to become an extremely attractive ornamental bulbous plant – each cultivar has its own unique color characteristics and provides the ornamental value as a cut flower for two to four weeks [4,5]. Lachenalia does not produce offsets fast enough for commercial production and so leaf cutting technique is used to efficiently propagate new cultivars [4]. There have been no studies on other vegetative techniques of lachenalia propagation, such as chipping and scoring (cross-cutting), that could be used on a larger scale in Published by Polish Botanical Society
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