Journal of Ornamental Horticulture

The present study determines the effect of growth regulators treated half corms on corm and cormel production in gladiolus cultivar ‘Punjab Glance’. The experiment employed a randomized block design with three replications during the years of 2020-2023. The experiment comprised of half corms dipped in different treatments control (water), benzyladenine @ 100 and 150 ppm, gibberellic acid @ 500 and 1000 ppm and potassium nitrate @1 and 1.5%. for 24 hours and planted in field at 30 × 20 cm distance on flat beds in 1st week of November. The gibberellic acid at 500 ppm concentration showed significantly highest and earliest sprouting (99.55% within 15.86 days of sowing) followed by potassium nitrate at 1.5% concentration with 98.23% sprouting in 16.54 days compared to control with lowest and delayed sprouting (84.51% within 18.34 days of sowing). However, the highest survival percentage (97.64 and 94.76%) was obtained with potassium nitrate at 1 and 1.5%, whereas benzyl adenine was most inefficient in survival of plants. Corm and cormel production was most enhanced in potassium nitrate at 1% treatment viz. corm yield (33.68 and 32.69 per m²), cormels yield (360.73 and 322.38 per m²), corm weight (24.59 and 19.38 g per plant) and corm size (3.55 and 3.62 cm per plant). Potassium nitrate yielded 70-80% flowering grade corms (3-4 cm), whereas 10-15% were non-flowering grade corms (2-3 cm). Considering corm and cormel yield, half corm soaked in potassium nitrate at 1% for 24 hours was found to be most profitable.