Analyzing growth Characteristics of F2 Hybrid Amaryllis Seedlings in Response to Substrates and Osmocote Fertilizers

Abstract

     Amaryllis plant (Hippeastrum  vittatum) has an attractive flower with a wide range of colors and shapes, and it has a global economic value. This plant is unable to produce seeds due to the existence of two inbreeding depression protandrous flowers and heteromorphic self-incompatibility (pin flower). This study was conducted at Horticulture Department, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of sulaimani, from November 2022 to May 2023., an attempt was made to overcome self-incompatibility to obtain seeds. Subsequently, an attempt was made to find out the optimum growing condition to produce numerous bulblets of Amaryllis from seeds under the effect of various substrates and different levels of Osmocote fertilizers. Both factors are important for growing the seedling from the seeds. The seeds were obtained after manual self-pollination. The substrates were A1 (silt: peat moss 1:1), A2 (silt: peat moss: perlite 1:1:1), and A3 (silt: peat moss: perlite 1:2:1). The Osmocote levels were B1 (control), B2 (1.5 g/pot), and B3 (2.5 g/pot).  Additionally, a combination of both factors was applied simultaneously. A3 substrate and B3 Osmocote fertilizer significantly affected most characteristics including leaf number (1.83), (2.22), seedling fresh weight (1.37g), (1.46 g), shoot length (8.22 cm), (8.43 cm), plant root number (4.89), (5.33) and bulblet diameter (8.55 mm), (8.33 mm) for both factors respectively. The combination of A3 with B3 had the most positive effect on the majority of aboveground and geophyte traits, followed by the integration of A2 with B3.

Keywords

• ornamental plant, hippeastrum vittatum
• self incompatibility
• ornamental bulb breeding programs