Effect of ascorbic and salicylic acids on growth and flowering of Gazania cv. Frosty Kiss Mixed

Abstract

Abstract An experiment was conducted during the season 2018-2019 in the lath house to study the effect of foliar spray with Ascorbic Acid (AsA) and Salicylic Acid (SA) on vegetative and flowering growth traits of Gazania (Gazania rigens L.) cv. Frosty Kiss Mixed. The experiment was designed as a factorial experiment (3×3) in Randomized Complete Blocks Design (RCBD) with three replicates. Plants were sprayed with concentrations of 0, 100, and 200 mg L-1 of AsA, and 0, 150 and 300 mg L-1 of SA. Foliar spray with 200 mg L-1 of AsA was superior on increasing number of leaves (40.00), number of suckers (9.22), leaf area (2174.09 cm2), leaves dry weight (6.36 g), number of flowers (5.64), early of flowering date (97.22 days), flower fresh and dry weight (4.78 g) (0.51 g) respectively, while spray with a concentration of 100 mg L-1 led to increase flower diameter (6.37 cm) and flowering duration (10.85 days). Foliar spray with SA improved all vegetative and flowering traits. Treatment of 300 mg L-1 was the most significant effect in increasing number of leaves (39.56), leaf area (2182.06 cm2), leaves fresh weight (43.93 g), number of flowers (5.83), flower diameter (6.31 cm), early of flowering date (98.07 days), and flower dry weight (0.50 g). The interaction effect between the studied factors was significant in all studied traits. Treatment of AsA200×SA150 was the most effective and gave the best results in terms of number of suckers (9.11), dry weight of leaves (6.49 g), number of flowers (5.87), flower diameter (6.44 cm), flowering date (96.98 days), flowering duration (10.89 days).