Inorganic Fertilizers Affect Yield and Flower Quality of <i>Alpinia </i><i>purpurata</i> (Vieillard) K. Schumann, Pink Variety

Alpinia purpurata (Vieillard) K. Schumann, Pink variety, is a tropical plant that produces flowers all year round. However, there are no rules for their fertilization. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of NPK fertilization on the yield and flower quality of the A. purpurata Pink variety. The variables evaluated were those related to stems, flowers, and weight of biomass. One hundred ninety-two plants were sectioned into flowers, leaves, stems and rhizomes and analyzed for NPK. The fertilizer rate 182-21-331 was statistically superior in the number of stems with open flowers (2.7), flower diameter (6.5 cm) and flower length (23. 5 cm). The number of stems with open flowers correlated with N in leaves and stems (r2 = 0.92 and 1.0) and with P in stems (r2 = 0.93). The number of stems with commercial flowers correlated with K in stems and rhizomes (r2 = 0.96 and 0.94, respectively). Flower length and diameter correlated with P and N in flowers (r2 = 0.94 and 0.99, respectively). The optimal rate determined for K in order to produce the highest number of commercial stems was 234.7 kg/ha.