| heal.abstract |
Potted plants of Lantana camara L. subsp. camara were sprayed with paclobutrazol (0, 50, 100, 200 and 500 mg l-1) and mepiquat chloride (125, 250, 500 and 1000 mg l-1) and their growth and flowering were determined under shading (0%, 27% and 66%) under greenhouse conditions. Growth (measured as a growth index combining height and width data) was found to decrease as paclobutrazol concentration increased while the number of flower heads per plant increased up to a maximum at the concentration of 100 mg l-1 with a decrease afterwards, at all shading levels. The growth index of the controls increased and the number of flower heads per plant decreased significantly at all concentration levels, as shading increased from 0% to 66%. The treatments with mepiquat chloride increased the growth index at all levels of shading. All plants treated with this regulator had more flower heads than the controls. At all concentration levels the growth index increased as shading increased from 0% to 66% while the number of flower heads was increased at 27% shading with a decrease afterwards. The most attractive plants (small with maximum flowering) were obtained with 100 mg l-1 paclobutrazol at 0% shading. |
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