Postharvest longevity of cut-flower Gerbera. II. Heritability of vase life

Abstract

Intensive selection to improve vase life was performed on a sample population of Gerbera×hybrida Hort. from a broad source of germplasm. Progeny of a 5 × 5 diallel cross yielded estimates of narrow sense heritability (h2 = 0.28) and broad sense heritability (H2=0.28) for vase life based on a mean of 1.96 measurements per plant. Additive gene action is postulated to control this character since the difference between total genotypic variance and additive genetic variance components was small. Repeatability (r=0.57) based on a single measurement per plant was moderately high. Heritability estimates were also determined based on 1,2,3,5, and ∞ measurements per plant. Heritability ranged from 22% to 39%.