Ornamental Cabbage and Kale Growth Responses to Daminozide, Paclobutrazol, and Uniconazole
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‘Osaka White’ or ‘Nagoya Red’. A Kuehny et al. (1998) applied fo- Ornamental uniconazole foliar spray of 16 mg·L–1 liar sprays of ancymidol (∝-cyclopropyl- Cabbage and resulted in 17% shorter ‘Nagoya Red’ ∝-(p-methoxyphenyl)-5-pyrimidine plants and 6% shorter ‘Osaka White’ methanol) (A-Rest, SePro Corp., plants. A daminozide foliar spray of Carmel, Ind.), paclobutrazol, or Kale Growth 2500 mg·L–1, sprayed twice, resulted in 21% shorter plants for both chlormequat (2-chloroethyltrimethyl- Responses to cultivars. Spraying daminozide would ammonium ion) (Cycocel, Olympic provide optimal height control for the Horticultural Products, Mainland, Pa.) Daminozide, retail grower. Although spraying plus daminozide to ornamental kale daminozide twice controlled plant plants grown in 36-cell bedding plant Paclobutrazol, height and costs half the amount of trays. Ancymidol at 25 mg·L–1 and and Uniconazole an uniconazole spray at 16 mg·L–1, paclobutrazol at 15 mg·L–1 were effec- plant diameter was not affected with tive in producing a 20% smaller plant. daminozide, therefore a wholesale Tank mixes of chlormequat + grower who would desire a smaller 1 daminozide produced plants that were James L. Gibson and diameter plant should use a –1 uniconazole spray of 16 mg·L–1. 48% (1,000 + 800 mg·L ),56% (1,250 Brian E. Whipker2 + 1,250 mg·L–1), or 80% (1,500 + 5,000 mg·L–1) smaller when compared to the control, and a darker blue-green rnamental cabbage and foliage color was observed. ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. Brassica kale are attractive land- Lang (1998) in Texas, applied oleracea var. acephala, growth retar- scape plants for the fall and dant, B-Nine, Bonzi, Sumagic foliar sprays of daminozide between O –1 early winter garden. Commercial pro- 2,500 and 7,500 mg·L , paclobutrazol –1 SUMMARY. Ornamental cabbage and duction of ornamental cabbage and between 10 and 40 mg·L , and mul- kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) kale in the southeastern U.S. occurs tiple combinations of the two chemi- plants of cultivars Osaka White and during the late summer when warm cals to an ornamental kale cultivar in Nagoya Red were treated with temperatures promote extensive plant 8.9-cm (3.5-inch) pots. Daminozide paclobutrazol and uniconazole as growth. Growers face the challenge of (2,500 mg·L–1) plus paclobutrazol (20 foliar sprays or substrate drenches. maintaining a short, yet robust plant, mg·L–1) resulted in 41% shorter plants These treatments were compared to which looks proportional to pot size. when compared to the control. How- the industry standard of daminozide Plant growth regulators (PGRs) ever, plants treated with paclobutrazol foliar sprays. Applying drenches of –1 paclobutrazol (a.i.) at 4 mg/pot or are commonly applied to container- at 40 mg·L were comparable to the uniconazole (a.i.) at 1 mg/pot grown plants to inhibit stem elongation tank mix with a 34% shorter height. (28,350 mg = 1.0 oz) resulted in 6% and produce a more compact plant Whipker et al. (1994) found foliar or 17%, respectively, shorter ‘Osaka (Tayama et al., 1992). Commercial PGR applications of uniconazole ((E)-1-(p- White’ plants while a 2 mg/pot recommendations suggest using chlorphenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-(1,2,4- paclobutrazol drench or a uniconazole daminozide (2,2-dimethylhydrazide) triazol-1-yl-1-penten-3-ol)) (Sumagic, drench at 0.25 mg/pot resulted in (B-Nine, Uniroyal Chemical, Valent, USA, Marysville, Ohio) at 5 25% shorter ‘Nagoya Red’ plants. Middlebury, Conn.) at 1,500 to 3,000 mg·L–1 or daminozide at 2,500 and Although effective, the expense of mg·L–1 to achieve desired height control 5,000 mg·L–1 resulted in the shortest substrate drenches for both plant (Luczai, 1992; McAvoy, 1994). A few growth regulators (PGRs) would not plant height of two ornamental kale be economically feasible for growers PGR studies have been conducted on cultivars. This study was conducted in to use. Paclobutrazol foliar sprays at ornamental cabbage and kale, but all the the midwestern U.S. and used only a concentrations of up to 80 mg·L–1 previous work was conducted in geo- limited number of concentrations. (ppm) were ineffective in controlling graphical locations with milder produc- Barcel (1998), Kuehny et al. plant height and diameter of either tion temperatures, or during seasons (1998), and Lang (1998) evaluated other than the typical fall production several PGRs available to growers to- time of the southeastern U.S. day. They did not determine optimal Department of Horticultural Science, Box 7609, North During the winter and spring pro- Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695-7609. concentrations of paclobutrazol or duction in California, paclobutrazol ((+)- uniconazole when applied as foliar This research was funded in part by the North Carolina β α Agricultural Research Service (NCARS), Raleigh, NC (R*,R*)- ([4-chlorophenyl] methyl- - sprays or drenches for plants grown in 27695-7643. Use of trade names in this publication (1,1-dimethylethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole- a container larger than 15.2 cm (6 does not imply endorsement by the NCARS of prod- 1-ethanol)(Bonzi, Uniroyal Chemical, ucts named nor criticism of similar ones not men- inches). Kuehny et al. (1998) and tioned. Thanks to Ingram McCall for her technical Middlebury, Conn.) drenches (a.i.) of Lang’s (1998) PGR research focused support, Wagner Greenhouses, Minneapolis, Minn. 1.25 to 2.5 mg/pot effectively inhib- on foliar concentrations for small con- for the seedling plugs, Fafard for the root substrate, Scotts for the fertilizer, and for grant support the Fred ited excessive height of ornamental kale tainers used in bedding plant produc- C. Gloeckner Foundation, Uniroyal Chemical Co., grown in 15.2-cm (6-inch) pots (Barcel, tion, and only ornamental kale was and the North Carolina Commercial Flower Growers’ 1998). Foliar sprays of paclobutrazol at evaluated. Recommended concentra- Assn. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in –1 part by the payment of page charges. Under postal concentrations up to 200 mg·L were tions of PGRs used in these studies regulations, this paper therefore must be hereby marked ineffective in inhibiting ornamental kale resulted in 20% to 35% shorter plants, advertisement solely to indicate this fact. growth, but the foliage became darker when compared to untreated plants, 1Research assistant. green and the center color intensified and these percentages are common 2Assistant professor. (Barcel, 1998). goals in plant growth regulator re- search (J. Latimer, personal commu- height, plant diameter, and center color plant height, when compared to the nication). Significant differences in diameter were tested by analysis of vari- untreated control (Table 1). Plants plant vigor between ornamental cab- ance by general linear model (SAS Inst., were 12% shorter when treated with bage and kale cultivars have been re- Cary, N.C.). Means for the cultivars and 2,500 mg·L–1 daminozide as a single ported (Whipker et al., 1998). Past treatment were separated by least sig- application, and when sprayed twice, research directed the authors to inves- nificant differences (LSD) at P ≤ 0.05. were 21% shorter, when compared to tigate the effectiveness of PGRs as Plant height and diameter values the untreated plants. Applying foliar sprays and substrate drenches for were regressed using the PROC REG daminozide at 2,500 mg·L–1 twice gave both ornamental cabbage and kale procedure (SAS Inst.) to determine the better control of height (21% smaller grown in the larger 20.8-cm (8-inch) best fit linear or quadratic model for plants) than the single application at pot commonly used by the industry. each PGR (paclobutrazol or 5,000 mg·L–1 (12% smaller plants). uniconazole) and application method PLANT DIAMETER. Plant diameter Materials and methods (foliar spray or substrate drench). Vari- was not controlled by daminozide for Ornamental cabbage and kale ables in the model were plant growth either cultivar and averaged 40.3 cm plugs (2.1 × 2.5 cm [0.8 × 0.95 inch] regulator concentration (Con) and in- (15.9 inches) (data not shown). Com- cells) of cultivars Osaka White and dicator variables for cultivar (Cult) mercial recommendations for Nagoya Red were transplanted into (‘Nagoya Red’ or ‘Osaka White’), with daminozide at 1,500 to 3,000 mg·L–1 2.96-L (0.78-gal) (20.8-cm-diameter β the full model being concentrationi = 0 (Luczai, 1992; McAvoy, 1994) may [8-inch]) round plastic containers on β β β × + 1Cult2 + 2Con + 3Con Cult2 + be appropriate for more northern cli- 20 Aug. 1998. The root substrate was β 2 β 2 × 4Con + 5Con Cult2, where mates. Southeastern U.S. growers may Fafard 4-P (Fafard, Anderson, S.C.), concentrationi = PGR concentration, i need to monitor the height of the which contained (v/v): 4 sphagnum = variable being regressed (plant height ornamental cabbage and kale crop on peat : 2 pine bark : 2 vermiculite: 1 or plant diameter), Cult2 = 1 if cultivar a regular basis when applying perlite. Plants were fertilized at each = ‘Osaka White’, 0 if otherwise (for daminozide. Although daminozide watering with 200 mg·L–1 N mixed β ‘Nagoya Red’), and k = estimated coef- may have no effect on plant diameter, . from Ca(NO3)2 4 H2O (15.5N–0P–0K) ficients (k = 0 to 5). it may be a tool for growth control by and KNO3 (13N–0P–36.5K) (Scotts, Terms of the model were judged retail and wholesale growers because Marysville, Ohio). Once every 2 weeks, to be significant or nonsignificant and of its economic advantage of costing a supplemental application of magne- included in the final model based on a $0.01 to $0.02 per pot, based on a .