Effects of zinc sulphate and Ascorbic acid on Flowering Characteristics of Ornamental plant Gazania (Gazania rigens) cv. daybreak red stripe

A pot experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, to study the effect of zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) and Ascorbic acid(AS) foliar application application 20 and 40 ppm was compared to the control (distillated water) on flowering Gazania (Gazania rigens L. daybreak red stripe).Results were analyzed by SPSS software and Duncan test. Results showed that ZnSO4 and AS had positive effect on the total of flowers/plant. Mean comparisons results indicated that the highest total of flowers/plant Of 20 ppm AS + 20 ppm ZnSO4 and 40 ppm ZnSO4 treatment with mean (94.75 and 91) and the lowest with mean (25.75) were achieved by application of control treatment. The highest number flowers 145, 160 and 175 DAP was was achieved in 40 ppm ZnSO4 with mean (6.25, 25.75 and 27.5), the lowest number flowers was obtained in control treatment (1.75, 4.25 and 7.5) showing significant difference. Zinc sulphate levels in these experiments test better than Ascorbic acid showed better effect regarding flowering and duration of flowering period and resulted in reduction of number flowers as the air temperature was raised.