Effect of Storage Period and GA3 Soaking of Bulbs on Growth and Flowering of Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) cv. Double

The experiment on effect of storage period and GA3 soaking of tuberose bulbs on growth, flowering, flower yield and quality was conducted at Junagadh Agriculture University, Junagadh during 2010-11. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design (FRBD) with three replications and four treatment combinations of storage comprising : S0 - Fresh uplifted, S1 - One month storage (uplifted during 2nd week of January, 2010), S2 - Two months storage (uplifted during 2nd week of December, 2009), and S3 - Three months storage (uplifted during 2nd week of November, 2009). These tuberose bulbs were planted in 3rd week of February, 2010 with four GA3 soaking treatments for 12 hours viz. G0 - Control (soaking in distilled water), G1 - 100 mg/l, G2 - 200 mg/l and G3 - 300 mg/l. The bulbs soaked with different concentration of GA3 were kept in shade for half an hour before planting. The results revealed that one month storage period after uplift of bulbs and GA3 200 ppm soaking before planting treatments significantly improved growth parameters (days to sprouting, sprouting percentage and plant height), and floral characters (days to spike emergence, days to first spike harvested and length of spike, number of florets per spike and diameter of floret) over a control treatment