| - By M.R. OHlMAN Indian Agricultural Resarch Institute,Kullu Valley -Himachal Pradesh |
| Abstract An experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of scale position and growing medium on bulblet formation and growth, when Lilium hybrid cultivar Grand Care was scale propagated. Maximum number of bulblets per scale (2.68) was recorded in inner scales. Sand produced highest number (2.61) of bulblets per scale. Weight (1.86g) and diameter (1.38cm) of bulblets were higher in inner scales. Maximum weight of bulblet (2.27g) in inner scale was recorded with sand + vermiculite. More number of roots (5.56) per scale were found in inner scale. Further, it was maximum (6.15) in vermiculite. More number of roots per scale (7.33) were observed with vermiculite. Root length (8.79cm) was highest in sand + vermiculite. Maximum root length (10.14em) in inner scale was recorded with sand + vermiculite. |
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The production of Lilium as cut flower is increasing year after year. However, high percentage of bulbs used for commercial production are imported and the need to produce large size bulbs which can be forced is everincreasing. Generally, lilies are propagated by seeds, bulbils, bulblets, division and scaling, although in vitro tissue culture using explants from scales is commonly used (Aartrijk, 1980; Magnani, 1988). Scale propagation (scaling) is an effective method for multiplication of various Lilium species. During scaling, leaf emergence from bulblets in Lilium is related to the induction of bulblet formation and also of dormancy (Demoto et al., 1983). Bulblet formation was also influenced by the position of the scales in the bulb (Matsuo, 1972). Mid and outer scales tended to produce more bulblets and scale leaf while stem formation was better from these scales as compared to the inner scale. Therefore, this experiment was initiated to investigate the effect of scale positions and growing media during scale propagation on the bulblet development in Lilium.
Materials
The present studies were carried out at IARI, Regional Station, Katrain. during 2003. Bulbs of Asiatic Lilium cv. Grand Care harvested in first week of August 2003, were used without giving any cold treatment to the bulbs. After harvesting, bulbs were soaked in 0.1 % carbendzim 50WP solution for an hour. The 2-3 layers of outer most scales that were withered or affected by fungicide were removed. The scale positions were separated into three groups: Outer Scales (OS), Middle Scales (MS) and Inner Scales (IS). The separated scale positions were planted in the plastic pots containing the following growing media\: a) Vermiculite, b) Sand and c) Sand + Vermiculite (2:1, v Iv) with three replications. Three scales per replication/ pot were planted in the propagation medium used at a depth of 3-4 em. The bulblets were harvested after three months and data recorded on different attributes were subjected to statistical analysis using factorial complete randomized design with scale positions and growing media each at three levels with one cultivar.
Results and Discussion
Perusal of data presented in Table 1 revealed that maximum number of bulblets per scale (2.68) was recorded in inner scales which was found at par in outer scales (2.06), whereas it was minimum in outer scales (1.86). Park (1996) also obtained more bulblet formation in inner scales of Connecticut King and L. Lancifoliurn while Iapichino et al., (1994) found highest number of bulblets in outer scales in Liliurn longiflorum cv. White American. The increase in the bulblet formation in outer scales is probably due to the more carbohydrate content (Park, 1996). The highest number of bulblets per scale (2.61) was obtained in sand (Table 2) which was found to be at par with sand + vermiculite. These results are in contrary with the results of Manish et al. (2000) who obtained highest number of bulblets per scale in vermiculite. The interaction effect of scale position and medium presented in Table 3 indicated that maximum bulblets in inner scale (3.13) were recorded with river sand. Data presented in Table 1 showed that the weight of bulblets (186 g) as well as the diameter (1.38 em) in inner scale were more than the outer and middle scales. These results are in contrary with the findings of Saw wan et aI. (2000) who obtained maximum weight of bulblet in outer scales in L. Iongiflorum cv. White American. The interaction between scale position and propagation medium showed that maximum weight of bulblet (2.27 g) in inner scale was recorded with sand + vermiculite followed by vermiculite (1.86 g) and sand (1.45g) (Table 3). Maximum number of roots per scale (5.56) was recorded in inner scales followed by middle scales (4.87) (Table 1). Further, it was maximum (6.15) in vermiculite which was significantly higher than the other media used \ (Table 2). It was evident from the Table 3 that the maximum number of roots per scale in middle scale (7.33) was recorded with vermiculite. Data presented in Table 2 showed that root length was significantly higher in sand + vermiculite (8.79 em). These results are in contrary with the results of Manish et ai. (2000) and Suh and Lee (1996) who obtained maximum root length in vermiculite and peatmoss. It is evident from the Table 3 that scale position and propagation medium significantly affected the root length as maximum root length (10.14cm) in middle scale was recorded with sand + vermiculite followed by outer (8.16 em) and inner scales (8.10 em). From the present study, it may be inferredthat the inner and middle scales are better with - respect to production of more number of bulblets per scale, weight of bulblet, diameter of bulblet and root length per scale during scale propagation of Lillium. Out of the media used more number of bulblets per scale, root length and number of roots per bulblet were found with sand and sand + vermiculite for in vivo propagation by using bulb scales. |
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| Table 1. Effect of scale position on bulblet formation in Lilillm |
| Scale position |
Number of bulblets/Scale |
Bulblet weight/(g) |
Bulblet diameter (em) |
Root/ bulbet |
root length (cm) |
| Outer scale (OS) |
2.06 |
0.66 |
0.49 |
3.91 |
5.55 |
| Middle scale (MS) |
1.86 |
0.82 |
0.66 |
4.87 |
93 |
| Inner scale (IS) |
2.68 |
1.86 |
1.38 |
5.56 |
47 |
| CO. (P=0.05) |
0.81 |
0.56 |
0.27 |
1.55 |
NS |
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| Table 2. Effect of growing medium on bulblet formation in Lilium |
| Growing length medium |
Number of bulb lets/ scale |
Bulblet weight (g) |
Bulblet diameter (em) |
Root/ bulbet |
root (cm) |
| Vermiculite (M1) |
1.61 |
1.22 |
0.91 |
6.15 |
5.93 |
| Sand (M2) |
2.61 |
0.80 |
0.79 |
3.67 |
3.22 |
| Sand |
2.40 |
1.32 |
0.83 |
4.53 |
8.79 |
| + Vermiculite (M3) (2:1, v Iv) |
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| Table 3. Interaction effect of scale position and growing medium on bulblet formation in Lilium |
Medium
scale positions |
Number of
bulblets / scale |
Bulblet
weight (g) |
Bulblet
diameter (cm) |
Number of
roots/bulblet |
root length(cm) |
| Vermiculite (M1) |
M1 |
M2 |
M3 |
M1 |
M2 |
M3 |
M1 |
M2 |
M3 |
M1 |
M2 |
M3 |
M1 |
M2 |
M3 |
| Outer scale (OS) |
1.33 |
2.66 |
2.20 |
0.66 |
0.40 |
0.92 |
0.52 |
0.48 |
0.46 |
428 |
3.16 |
4.30 |
6.01 |
2.50 |
8.16 |
| Middle scale (MS) |
1.53 |
2.03 |
2.03 |
1.13 |
0.56 |
0.78 |
0.69 |
0.74 |
0.56 |
7.33 |
3.20 |
4.10 |
6.50 |
4.15 |
10.14 |
| Inner scale (IS) |
1.96 |
3.13 |
2.96 |
1.86 |
1.45 |
2.27 |
1.53 |
1.15 |
1.46 |
6.83 |
4.66 |
5.20 |
5.30 |
3.03 |
8.10 |
| CD. (P=0.05) |
1.40 |
0.97 |
0.48 |
2.68 |
3.46 |
| M1 = Vermiculite, M2 = Sand, M3 = Sand+VErmiculite (2:1, v/v) |
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