Quality of greenhouse roses (Rosa hybrida L.) as affected by height and stage of shoot bending and flower bud removal

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of different heights, stages of shoot bending and flower bud removal from the bent stem on the quality of rose cultivar Lovely Jewel at Ziway, Ethiopia. From the conducted study, a highly significant interaction effect was noticed from bending height and flower bud removal on stem length. Accordingly, bending at junction and the removal of flower buds from the bent stems resulted in the longest stem. In response to the stem thickness, differences being observed among bending heights and bending stages. Consequently, bending at junction and bending after the flower bud showed color provided highest thick stems, respectively. Two way interactions of bending height and flower bud removal as well as bending stage and flower bud removal was also noticed on bud length. Bending at junction combined with flower removal showed the maximum bud length. The bending position, stage and flower bud removal had highly significant effects on bud width. As a result, bending at junction when the bud shows color with removed flower gave the maximum bud width. The maximum vase life was obtained from bending above 2nd bud. In a similar manner, removal of flowers from bent stem performed best in terms of maintaining the lasting quality. Thus, from the experiment a combination of bending at junction after the flower bud showed color with the removal of flowers being proved to be better than all the other combinations for most of the parameters. However, further researches in line with the yield and economic aspects should be conducted to give concrete recommendations. © 2012 Academic Journals Inc.