HOW DOES WATER DEFICIT AFFECT GLADIOLUS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT?

Camila C Becker,Lilian O Uhlmann,Nereu A Streck,Paulo I Gubiani,Regina Tomiozzo

doi:10.1590/1809-4430-eng.agric.v41n5p517-525/2021

Camila C Becker, Lilian O Uhlmann + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4430-eng.agric.v41n5p517-525/2021

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Abstract

The growing demand for gladiolus, especially at peaks of consumption, requires efficient scheduled production and good quality of floral stems. The objective of this study was to understand how water deficit affects the growth and development of gladiolus and, consequently, the quality of the floral stems produced. Plant development, quantitative parameters of the floral stems, and dry mass partitioning were evaluated in two field experiments with four gladiolus cultivars, with and without irrigation. The development cycle was longer in the non-irrigated treatment, whereas its duration under no water deficit was similar to that predicted by PhenoGlad, which is a gladiolus phenology model. As PhenoGlad predicts gladiolus development only for scenarios without water deficit, the inclusion of a water-stress submodel in the model would allow its application to any water supply scenario and help decision makers and farmers to plan gladiolus production more accurately. Water deficit also reduced gladiolus growth and flower stem size, but did not affect dry mass partitioning. As the development and quality of the floral stems of gladiolus were negatively affected by water stress, irrigation is essential for producing high-quality gladiolus floral stems and enabling production planning for peaks of consumption.

Highlights

Water deficit is a limiting factor for the growth and development of agricultural crops (Teixeira et al, 2019)
In Experiment 2, the Jester flower stems were ready for harvest only 13 days after what was informed by the Phenoglad and, for Rose Supreme, only 11 days later. These results indicate that the PhenoGlad model, which is increasingly being used to schedule gladiolus production under conditions without water limitation (Becker et al, 2020; Becker et al, 2021a), must be updated to consider water deficit
The number of florets was the only variable not affected by water deficit and cultivars. These results demonstrate the importance of irrigation in gladiolus plants to obtain floral stems of high quality, which will ensure the longest vase life of the floral stem (Schwab et al, 2014; Uhlmann et al, 2019)

Summary

Introduction

Water deficit is a limiting factor for the growth and development of agricultural crops (Teixeira et al, 2019). Water stress causes loss of quality of the floral stems and can depreciate this marketable product (Porto et al, 2014; Pereira et al, 2016b). Gladiolus (Gladiolus × grandiflorus Hort.) is one of the most important ornamental crops worldwide, mainly as a cut flower (Thakur et al, 2015). Because it is an easy-toproduce crop that requires low initial cost and is cultivated in open fields, gladiola has become an important cut flower for small farmers in Brazil (Uhlmann et al, 2019). The growing demand for this flower, especially in peak consumption, requires efficient production planning and good quality of the marketed product (Schwab et al, 2015b; Becker et al, 2020; Becker et al, 2021a)

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