Effect of bulb size and spacing on growth, flowering and post-harvest characteristics of tuberose (Polyanthes tuberosa L.) cv. Double

An experiment was carried out at ARS, Kathalagere, UAS (B) to know the effect of bulb size and spacing on growth, flowering and post harvest characteristics of tuberosa (cv. Double). The results of the experiment revealed that the use of larger bulbs measuring more than 3.4 cm and planted at 30x30 cm spacing was found to be most optimum to obtain taller plants (64.47 cm) with more number of leaves (47.67) and longer spikes (93.0 cm). However, the quality parameters like early emergence of spike, more number of florets per spike (58.93) and longevity of spike in the field were also favourably influenced by the use of larger bulb size (>.4 cm) and wider spacing (30x30 cm). Further the number of bulbs and bulblets production were also maximum in this treatment Post harvest parameters like water balance (1.04), maximum percentage of fully opened florets per spike (84), fresh weight (78.93 g) and vase life (16.67 days) were significantly superior when larger bulbs (>4 cm) and wider spacing (30x30 cm) were adopted compared to lower size of bulbs (< 1 cm and 3 cm) and planting at closer spacing (20x20 cm).