Morphological Characterization and Evaluation of Nineteen Gladiolus Germplasm

Abstract

Nineteen gladiolus germplasms were characterized and evaluated in the Research Field of the Department of Horticulture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, during November 2017 to May 2018 for identifying suitable line(s) to release as a variety for commercial cultivation. The accession G8 produced the highest number of shoots (3.3) and effective shoots (3.0) per hill. The accessions that produced flower stalk within 75 days of planting included BARI gladiolus- 3 (G₁, 58.7 days), G₂ (62.3 days), G₃ (65.7 days), BARI gladiolus- 5 (G₄, 61.3 days), G₅ (55.7 days), BARI gladiolus- 6 (G₇, 71.3 days), G₁₀ (74.0 days), G₁₄ (73.3 days), G₁₅ (75.0 days) and G₁₉ (67.3 days). The highest rachis length was recorded in BARI gladiolus- 3 (53.7 cm) which was statistically similar with the rachis length of G₆ (46.0 cm), G₁₀ (46.3 cm), G₁₁ (47.0 cm) and BARI gladiolus- 1 (G₁₂, 46.3 cm) but significantly differed with other accessions. Most of the accessions in general, produced more than 10 florets per spike. Vase life of the accessions varied and G₁₁ had the highest vase life of 9-11 days and this was close to 9-10 days in G₉ and 8-9 days in BARI gladiolus- 3 (G₁), G₈, G₁₀, G₁₇, G₁₈ and G₁₉. The highest number of corm per hill was recorded in G₈ (10.3) followed by G₅ (8.7), G₁₆ (8.3), G₁₇ (7.7) and BARI gladiolus- 3 (6.7). Number of cormels per hill ranged from 9.0-941.7 with an average of 237.0. Based on various plant, flower colour, corm and cormel production characters, the gladiolus accessions G₃, G₅, G₈, G₉, G₁₀, G₁₁, G₁₄, G₁₆, G₁₇, G₁₈ and G₁₉ may be considered for further study.

Ann. Bangladesh Agric. (2019) 23(2) : 37-48