Growth regulators do not increase onion bulb size or weight under greenhouse conditions

Abstract

Exogenously applied plant growth regulators may affect development of onion, but little is know about how concentration or timing of application can affect bulb grade and quality. Two concentrations of the growth regulators abscisic acid, gibberellic acid, indole-acetic acid, jasmonic acid, kinetin, and maleic acid hydrazide, and water controls, were applied at the 7- and 20-leaf stages to the middle of the leaf whorl in greenhouse grown onion plants. Leaf and bulb weights were lighter, and bulb diameters were smaller, from plants treated with growth regulators applied at the 7-leaf stage than those from plants treated at the 20-leaf stage. Bulbs produced on plants treated with water were the same size, or larger, than those produced on plants treated with individual growth regulators.