Vol. 12, Issue 12 (2023)

Author(s):
Anusha Velangini B, Padmalatha T and Salomi Suneetha DR

Abstract:
Bougainvillea is widely used as flowering shrub in gardening and landscaping. It requires routine pruning by clipping shoots to lower plant height and sustain plant architecture because of their robust growth habit. To keep the plant size consistent, PGR may be an alternative to frequent trimming. Hence, an investigation was carried out during the year 2021-22 at College of Horticulture, Dr.YSRHU, VR gudem, Andhra Pradesh to study the effect of growth retardants on enhancement of ornamental quality and root growth in Bougainvillea. The experiment consisted of thirteen treatments and two replications in Completely Randomized Block Design. The growth retardant treatments were imposed as plant sprays with paclobutrazol at 50 ppm, 100 ppm, 150 ppm and 200 ppm; B-nine at 1000 ppm, 1500 ppm, 2000 ppm and 2500 ppm; CCC at 1000 ppm, 1500 ppm, 1500 ppm and 2000 ppm. Plants sprayed with water were considered as control. The experimental treatments were administered at 30 and 60 days after planting of rooted cuttings of Bougainvillea in polybags and data was recorded after five months for root and visual quality traits. Maximum root length (35.00 cm), root spread (19.65 cm) and fresh weight (14.66 g) and dry weight of root (6.81g) were registered in B-nine @ 1000 ppm (T₅). Furthermore, the visual quality parameters viz., visual plant grade (4.88), form index (3.95) and flower index (3.92) were registered maximum in paclobutrozol at 200 ppm treatment (T₄). Visual root grade (4.40) was observed to be highest in B-nine @ 1000 ppm (T₅) which was found to be at par with B-nine @ 1500 ppm (T₆).