Forcing Ranunculus for early flowering. Effects of corm moisture content and turgor on root and bud formation during forcing, and development of a standard corm vitality test.
1990
Ozeri Y. | Umiel N. | Eliassi R.
Production of an early crop of ranunculus cut flowers is made possible by a forcing treatment given to the corms prior to planting. The commercial forcing procedure comprises imbibition of the dry corms for 12-18 hours in running water and followed by storage at 5-6 degrees C for 5-6 weeks. In the present work we tested the importance of moisture content and the degree of corm turgor on the ability of corms to produce roots and buds during the cooling period. Maintaining full turgor in the corms during the cooling period enables root and bud development. At full turgor, the corms start to sprout after 10-14 days, and after 21 days all the vital corms have visible roots and/or tiny shoots. The newly developed method of a 3 week cooling period (5-6 degrees C) at full turgor can be used as a standard technique in commerce to evaluate the vitality and sprouting ability of ranunculus corms. This testing method is similar in nature to the techniques in use for testing the germination ability and vitality of seeds.
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