Evaluate the quality of cut spikes of different varieties of gladiolus

Abstract

The present investigation entitled “Evaluate the quality of cut spikes of different varieties of gladiolus” was conducted during the period of October 2016 to March 2017 at the Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, K.N.K. College of Horticulture, Mandsaur, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior (M.P.). The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design with three replications. Nine gladiolus cultivars (African Star, Friendship, Hunting Song, Priscilla, Punjab Dawn, Regency, Sancerre, Sunayana, and Swapnil).The observations on different post harvest and biochemical parameters were recorded and the results obtained are summarized below. Swapnil recorded the best performance with respect of most of the post harvest parameters i.e. days to opening of 5th florets, days to withering of 5th florets, number of florets open at a time, percentage of open florets/spike, water uptake on 5th day (ml), total water uptake (ml), vase- life (days) and pigment content. Regency show the best performance with respect of days to opening of 3rd and 4th florets, days to withering of 3rd and 4th florets. The maximum diameter of 3rd, 4th 5th florets and reducing sugar was recorded with cv. Priscilla. The maximum Non- reducing sugar & total sugar was recorded with cv. Friendship while dry weight of cut spikes at senescence was recorded with cv. Punjab Dawn.