The effect of flower removal on the growth and quality of bushes of two rose (Rosa L.) varieties

Abstract

The present study was conducted during the period 2008–2011 in a production nursery without irrigation and established on grey-brown podzolic soil classified as soil class II. The study investigated the effect of regular flower removal on the growth and quality of bushes of the following rose (Rosa L.) varieties: a multi-flowered variety ‘Arthur Bell’ and a large-flowered variety ‘Burgund’. In the case of the multi-flowered variety ‘Arthur Bell’, flower removal was found to have a significant effect on the number and total length of shoots growing from the bud union in bushes. On the other hand, this practice was not shown to have an effect on the growth and quality of bushes of the large-flowered variety ‘Burgund’. In the case of bushes of the studied varieties budded on Rosa multiflora Thunb. rootstock, the study showed significant differences in plant growth and branching between years. In 2009, after spring frosts that damaged young shoots and as an effect of a lower amount of rainfall by about 60 mm during the growing season, a much worse quality of rose bushes was obtained than in the other years.

Keywords

• Rosa L.
• nursery
• flowering
• plant branching
• basal shoots