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Evidence for a Short-day Flowering Response in Heliconia stricta ‘Dwarf Jamaican’

1986; American Society for Horticultural Science; Volume: 21; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.21273/hortsci.21.3.506

2327-9834

Richard A. Criley, Osamu Kawabata,

Fern and Epiphyte Biology

Abstract A seasonal pattern of flowering was observed in field production records of Heliconia stricta Huber. ‘Dwarf Jamaican’. That this seasonality could be photoperiod-related was indicated in greater yields for plants grown under 8-hr daylengths for 6 weeks when compared to plants given natural daylengths (about 13.5 hr). Depending on the capacity of the plant to respond to photoperiod, 3 or 4 weeks of short daylength (SD) were sufficient durations for flower initiation. Leaf number affected the response, as only 4% of pseudostems with <3 leaves at the onset of SD yielded flowers, while 91% of pseudostems with ≥4 leaves at the onset of SD produced flowers. From the start of SD, about 13 weeks were required for development of the inflorescence to anthesis for pseudostems starting with ≥4 leaves.