Influence of bulb sizes at planting on growth and development of the common hyacinth and the lily

摘要

Studies were carried out at the Plant Stress Unit of the University of Sussex, UK to determine the effects of bulb size at planting the on the growth and development of flower bulbs using hyacinth and the lily as test plants. Results of the studies indicated that bulb size at planting influenced vegetative growth and all other parameters measured both in hyacinth and the lily. As the size of the planted bulb increased, parameters measured also increased in proportion to the size of the planted bulb. In hyacinth, however, the possession of a large bulb had little advantage, overall, to growth and development because after the 50 g bulb size, the results look markedly similar. Probably, the extra carbohydrate reserves possessed by the large bulbs (> 50 g bulb sizes) might be useful to the bulb later during their life cycle for survival during unfavourable environmental conditions. In general plants produced from large bulb grew faster to complete their life cycle than those produced from medium and small bulbs but senescence occurred earlier in the former than the latter.