Evaluation yield and genetically factors in different cultivars of gladiolus

Abstract

In order to suggest the best cultivars of gladiolus to grow in moderate regions of Iran, an experiment was carried out in a complete randomized block design in three replications with five cultivars of Gladiolus grandiflorus (‘Oscar’, ‘Red Advance’, ‘White Prosperity’, ‘Rose Supreme’ and ‘Lemon Drop’) at the ornamental plants research center in Mahallat city of Iran. In reproductive and yields traits, ‘Red Advance’ were the highest. The highest vegetative traits were observed in ‘Oscar’. The highest spike length (84.6 cm), number of florets (18.00), vase life (9.33 days) and plant height (172.88 cm) were observed in ‘Oscar’. The highest corm weight (51.16 mm), numbers of cormlets (54.66) were observed in ‘Red Advance’. The results showed that the rate of propagation was high in ‘Red Advance’. The highest heritability in traits were estimated as plant height (98.67%), leaf width (98.66%), leaf length (98.12%), number of florets (98.55%), length of spike (98.90%) and diameter of stem (98.84%). There was a positive and significant correlation between the yield of corm and cormlets with the number of cormlet (r = 0.99) and diameter of cormlet (r = 0.96) and diameter of cormlet with the number of cormlet (r = 0.96). ‘Red Advance’ cultivar may be recommended for cultivation as alternative to some oldest cultivars (like ‘Oscar’), which showed potentiality for marketing both in domestic and foreign markets.