crop cultivation
Multiple Topfl or Drenches for
Baskets
Photo 2. 10-inch basket of petunia ‘Wave Lavender’ was sprayed with B-Nine (2,500 ppm) at week 3, followed by a Topfl or drench (4 ppm) at week 5. This basket is from same experiment as baskets shown below.
an enticing product for consumers. However, the vigor of many of the better basket varieties can get out of control. Large baskets that are dam- aged during handling or become overgrown while in retail display can be a signifi cant loss.
A
Photo 1. 10-inch basket of calibrachoa ‘Sweetheart Lavender’, nine weeks after planting. Liners were pinched at planting. Plants received a B-Nine spray (2,500 ppm) during week 2 and a Bonzi drench (8 ppm) during week 5.
Hanging baskets are a huge selling opportunity for garden centers today, but controlling the vigorous varieties that make them so vibrant can be a challenge.
By Jim Barrett and Carolyn Bartuska
The production information generated for
ttractive hanging baskets are impor- tant items for growers and retailers. The variations of interesting colors in crops such as petunia, verbena, impatiens and calibrachoa can create
Wave petunias has helped growers understand the importance of a PGR strategy that controls the plants early to produce compact, stronger growth, then uses a drench application to control elongation as the crops are fl owering. The PGR drench produces a plant with a tight concentra- tion of fl owers. The plants will continue growing but at a controlled pace. An example of this strategy on calibrachoa is
shown in Photo 1. The plants were sprayed with B-Nine (daminozide) at 2,500 ppm at week two, and then a Bonzi (paclobutrazol) drench at 8 ppm was applied during week fi ve. Photo 2 is an example of the same strategy on petunia that was fi rst sprayed with B-Nine and then given a fi nal Topfl or (fl urprimidol) drench. It is important to note that the optimum Bonzi or Topfl or drench rate, as with other PGRs, will vary considerably for different crops and vigor levels, the green- house environment and desired size control. Another approach we have been evaluating
Photo 3. 10-inch petunia ‘Wave Lavender’ control (left) and treated (right), shown at week 7. The treated container received a Topfl or drench (0.5 ppm) at weeks 3-6.
www.gpnmag.com
involves multiple drench applications at lower concentrations (Photo 3). The treated ‘Wave Lav- ender’ basket received four applications of Top- fl or at 0.5 ppm. Figure 1 shows the results for different PGR strategies on ‘Wave Pink’ baskets. There you can see in treatments 2, 3 and 4 the effect of increasing Topfl or rates when applied once near the end of crop. Treatments 3, 5 and 7 received the same total amount of Topfl or but in a different number of applications. Impatiens is another crop where drench
applications offer signifi cant benefi ts to baskets. The example in Figure 2 compares a single Topfl or
May 2010 GPN 23
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