CHANGES IN DECORATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANTS AS A RESULT OF THE INFLUENCE OF BACILLUS SUBTILIS 10-4

The aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of Bacillus subtilis 10-4 alone and in combination with salicylic acid on the ornamental qualities of some perennial flowering plants in the Bashkir Cis-Urals. The studies were conducted in open ground on the plots of the South Ural Botanical Garden-Institute of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SUBGI UFARC RAS). The objects of the study were three varieties of perennial crops: Hosta × hybrida hort. ‘Antioch’, Phlox paniculata L. ‘Schneepiramide’, Lilium × hybrida hort. ‘Royal Fantasy’. The ornamental traits of plants were assessed using a generally accepted method. To compare the objective quantitative assessment, the area of the horizontal projection of the color spot on the plant bush was calculated according to the technique developed in the Botanical Garden of Moscow State University. When inoculated with B. subtilis, the following morphometric parameters increased in H. hybrida ‘Antioch’: plant height, number of leaves, leaf width, number of flowers in an inflorescence, flower diameter, flower height and inflorescence length; in L. hybrida ‘Royal Fantasy’: flower size, inflorescence density and flowering abundance; in Ph. paniculata ‘Schneepiramide’: inflorescence size, flowering abundance and duration. When combining B. Subtilis 10-4 with salicylic acid, the following parameters increased in hosta: number of generative shoots; in lily: flower height and diameter, leaf length and thickness; in phlox: flower diameter and inflorescence height. The totality of the obtained data testify in favor of the effectiveness of foliar application of salicylic acid and B. subtilis 10-4 to increase the ornamental quality of the studied varieties in open ground conditions in the Bashkir Cis-Urals.