Poinsettias are the number one flowering potted plant in the U.S. and it is the most popular Christmas plant sold. Miniature roses have become an increasingly important flowering potted plant. However, growers must overcome production problems to produce a quality finished plant and avoid disease incidence. Supplemental calcium has been proven to increase the amount of good quality flowers and increase disease resistance. Silicon can increase plant growth and crop quality and decrease disease pressures. Two experiments were conducted on miniature rose cultivars Sonya and Alto. The objective of experiment 1 was to determine the effects of preharvest application of calcium nitrate [Ca (NO3)2], Foli-Cal® (chelated Ca), chelate, Maniplex-Traffic® (chelated Si) or Sil-Matrix® (potassium silicate) applied as a spray or a drench on growth and development. Spray application of Foli-Cal® increased plant growth as indicated by a greater dry weight compared to all other treatment applications. Drench application of Foli-Cal® increased finished quality as indicated by greater flowering, height, width, leaf area, and dry weight.
The objective of experiment 2 was to determine the efficacy of weekly spray applications of biofungicides Sil-Matrix (potassium silicate), Fosphite® (phosphoric acid), Kaligreen® (potassium bicarbonate), and Manniplex Traffic® (chelated Si) on powdery mildew on miniature roses compared to a standard fungicide Heritage® (azoxystrobin). Miniature roses treated with Kaligreen®, Heritage® alternated with Foshpite®, or Heritage® alternated with Kaligreen® were not as susceptible to powdery mildew. For the second study of powdery mildew, Kaligreen® gave the best control of powdery mildew for cultivar Sonja but treatments for Alto showed no significance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-07112008-082618 |
| Date | 16 July 2008 |
| Creators | Robichaux, Mary Beth Louise |
| Contributors | Allen Davis Owings, Jeff S Kuehny, Charles E Johnson |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07112008-082618/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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