Abstract
Saffron is one of the most appreciated and expensive spices in the world and serves as a traditional Chinese medicine in China. Shanghai Chongming Island, as the main production area of saffron in China, has formed a unique "two-segment" cultivation mode since the 1980s. The study evaluated the effects of different temperatures and incubation periods on flower initiation and flowering of saffron. From mid-June, corms were placed in a cultivation chamber without any substrate under 30 °C, −25 °C, and −15 °C, or 25 °C and −15 °C for phased constant temperature treatment, or under 25 °C, 20 °C and 15 °C for continuous constant temperature treatment, respectively. The optimal temperature (between 20 and 25 °C) compared to the natural temperature can effectively promote the initiation time of flower differentiation and shorten the flower differentiation process. Meanwhile, inappropriate incubation temperature, such as constant temperature at 15 °C or 25 °C, results in no flower initiation, or flower interruption and atrophy, respectively. In summary, incubation of corms at a slightly high temperature (about 30 °C) for 2∼3 weeks, then transfer to a suitable temperature (about 25 °C) for 1∼2 months, and final transfer to a lower temperature (about 15∼20 °C) for flowering, which is a suitable temperature condition to promote flowering, can induce saffron to enter in its full flowering stage on early October. These results can provide a theoretical basis for indoor environment conditions to regulate saffron flowering under the “two-segment” cultivation model.
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