Impact of Controlled Environment on Growth and Flowering of Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus)

AbstractGerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus) a popular cut flower from the Asteraceae family, whose cultivation in semi-arid regions diversifies income and offers profitable market opportunities, enabling scientists develop techniques suited to these conditions. Although, flower production in northern part is limited compared to southern parts of the state, it still contributes to the sector, especially as floriculture gaining traction. The present study was conducted to assess vegetative and flower characteristics of seven gerbera varieties (Intense, Chique, Camilla, Sam Dom, Ritmo, Beaker and Ankur) with three replications using Randomized block design (RBD) at the College of Horticulture, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka under polyhouse conditions. Results showed that vegetative characters like plant spread (63.89 cm), leaf length (30.03 cm) and leaf breadth (16.40 cm) was highest in the variety Intense. Plant height (54.20) was highest in Chique, maximum no of leaves per plant was produced by Beaker (28.17). Pertaining to flower characters, the maximum number of flowers per plant per month (3.93), stalk girth (6.30 mm) and flower diameter (11.3 cm) was highest in Intense. Stalk length (58.5 cm) was greater in Chique and maximum flower weight in Sam Dom (10.83 g). Hence, it was observed that the variety Intense performed best for most of the characters followed by Chique, Ankur, Ritmo, Camilla, Sam Dom and least by Beaker. In conclusion, the study identifies ’Intense’ as the most promising gerbera variety for semi-arid polyhouse conditions in northern Karnataka, demonstrating superior vegetative and floral traits compared to the other varieties tested.