Varietal assessment and variability studies on gladiolus under south Gujarat conditions

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the performance of 16 gladiolus (Gladiolus hortulanus) varieties under south Gujarat agro-climatic conditions. Significant differences were observed for all the growth, flowering and yield characters during experimentation. The three years pooled data revealed that maximum plant height (73.04 cm) was recorded in variety Her Majesty. Variety Sancerre recorded maximum leaf area (104.79 cm2) and was found superior with respect to qualitative parameters like floret size (10.47 cm), florets per spike (14.29), rachis length (43.78 cm), spike length (76.86 cm), duration of spike (17.80 days), vase-life (10.31 days) and weight of corms (48.74 g). Early flower spike initiation (52.82 days) and first floret opening (65.36 days) was noted in variety Green Star. Variety Psittacinus Hybrid recorded the maximum number of leaves (9.09) and spikes per plant (2.64). Corm size (7.56 cm) and corms per plant (2.53) was obtained maximum in variety Candyman and Priscilla, respectively. Whereas, maximum weight of cormels per plant (11.10 g) was noted in variety Gunjan. The molecular investigation through RAPD markers revealed the highest genetic similarity (0.824) between the accessions Punjab Dawn and Wine & Roses, whereas, the lowest genetic similarity (0.172) was registered between the accessions Eurovision and Her Majesty.