Effect of GA 3 on growth and flowering attributes of gladiolus cultivars

An experiment was conducted at Horticulture Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, to study the effect of GA3 on growth and flowering attributes in gladiolus cultivars. Treatments consisted of GA3 at 100 ppm, 200 ppm, 300 ppm and 400 ppm alongwith control on 5 cultivars of gladiolus viz., Archana, Gunjan, J.V. Gold, Sabnum and Snow Princes. Experiment was laid-out in a Randomized Block Design and with three replications. The results revealed that maximum length of leaf and width of longest leaf were recorded when GA3  was sprayed at 400 ppm on cvs. Sabnum and Gunjan. However, maximum number of leaves/plant was registered with cv. Gunjan at 200 ppm GA3 . Among flowering parameters early spike emergence was noticed in cv. Sabnum when, GA3  was sprayed at higher concentrations (300-400 ppm). In general, higher size of first and fifth floret was recorded with cv. J.V. Gold at 200- 300 ppm GA3 . GA3  at 300 ppm also exerted maximum length of spike, whereas maximum number of florets/spike was recorded with cv. Snow Princess when GA3  was applied at 100-200 ppm.