Effects of Seedling Container Size and Nursing Period on the Growth, Flowering, and Yield of Cut Flowers in Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus L.)

• Published in: Environment control in biology Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 51 - 58
• Main Author: INABA, Zentaro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japanese Society of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Engineers and Scientists 2006
• Subjects: pinching; seedling method; temporary planting; transplanting
• ISSN: 1880-554X; 1883-0986
• DOI: 10.2525/ecb.44.51

We investigated the effects of the size of seedling container used in the nursery (deep or shallow types) and of the nursing period (25, 30, or 35 days) on the growth and flowering of snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus L.) cv.‘Maryland Pink’ and‘Light Pink Butterfly II’. Snapdragons were seeded in July and pinched in September. We compared the results with those of the conventional method (temporary planting) for raising seedlings. Plant growth and subsequent yields of cut flowers increased in the deep containers. In seedlings raised for 35 days, plant height and the number of nodes decreased at the time of pinching, and the number of days from pinching to flowering of the second-node shoots increased. Flowering of the second-node shoots of plants with non-temporary planting occurred earlier than in the conventional method, and the yield of cut flowers was greater. To nurse the seedlings without temporary planting, planting within 30 days seems to be suitable regardless of the seedling containers that are used.