TRENDS AND USES OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS ON HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS

摘要

Production of herbaceous perennials has been one of the most rapidly growing areas of floriculture for the last 8 to 10 years. However, greenhouse and nursery production of herbaceous perennials requires a significant effort to control the growth of some of these very vigorous plants. Until very recently the primary methods of control were scheduling and pruning. If a grower missed the target date, he cut the crop back. However, in the effort to keep these plants in balance with their containers andshipping carts, growers have the same arsenal of chemical plant growth regulators (PGRs) that has been used on annual bedding plants and other potted floricultural crops since the early 1960s. Herbaceous perennial growers understand that plant height affects the perceived quality of the plant, i.e., a plant in balance with its container size is of higher quality, which means that these plants are the most saleable. Growers using PGRs to accomplish this height control have fewer production losses due tothe more saleable plants as well as the physiological enhancement of stress tolerance, which results in longer shelf-life in the greenhouse or in the retail setting. Another major advantage to growers using PGRs is that more compact plants can be more easily and economically shipped and displayed on typical retail racks. After many years of conducting research on crop responses to a variety of PGRs, we are finally seeing growers testing these methods on herbaceous perennials in their own nurseries. Theprimary plant processes that we seek to affect with PGRs in perennial production are growth regulation of plant height and branching. Other chemicals are used in other crops primarily to affect flowering or in propagation of cuttings.