Use of plant growth regulators for breaking dormancy in gladiolus-A review

Gladiolus is one of the most important bulbous cut flower crops belonging to the family iridaceae and is a native of South Africa and Asia Minor. It is valued for its majestic spikes, beautiful colours, attractive shapes and good vase life. Gladiolus is commercially propagated through corms and cormels. Freshly harvested corms and cormels undergo a period of dormancy which plays a vital role in gladiolus flower production and its market price. Corm dormancy is attributed to the accumulation of growth inhibitory substances like abcissic acid. Though varying chilling treatments of corms has been reported for successfully breaking dormancy, the effectiveness of plant growth regulators (PGRs) at different concentration in breaking dormancy has also been studied and well documented. These plant growth regulators are not only effective in breaking corm dormancy but easy to apply and also easily available in the market. However, dormancy breaking is specific to cultivars, their physiological state and varying environmental conditions. In this paper, use of PGRs for breaking dormancy in gladiolus has been reviewed.