Regulation of scape elongation through gibberellin and auxin detected by hormone metabolomic profiling in <i>Clivia miniata</i>

<italic>Clivia miniata</italic> Regel is a globally prized ornamental plant with significant economic value in China, as a traditional decoration during Lunar New Year celebrations. However, its natural anthesis time in the greenhouse often fails to coincide with the Spring Festival, thereby necessitating precise control over anthesis through a better understanding of its scape elongation mechanism. Phenological observations identified four key stages (flower bud stage, CM_F; inflorescence stage, CM_I; inflorescence emergence stage, CM_E; and scape stage, CM_S) before anthesis. Observations revealed progressive elongation of parenchyma cells in the developing scape. Hormone profiling across these stages was conducted to explore the hormonal regulation of this process, identifying 60 distinct hormones, 52 of which showed significant differential expression. Among these, auxins and gibberellins (GAs) emerged as primary regulators of both scape elongation and anthesis time. Building on these insights, exogenous hormone application experiments were performed with remarkable practical outcomes. All phytohormone treatments significantly accelerated anthesis. Specifically, applying 50 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) resulted in complete inflorescence emergence with 100% efficiency and accelerated anthesis by 14 d. The application of 150 mg/L IAA resulted in complete inflorescence emergence with 90% efficiency and accelerated anthesis by 29 d. Moreover, the application of 150 mg/L GA₃ resulted in complete inflorescence emergence with 90% efficiency and accelerated the anthesis by 25 d. The application of 200 mg/L GA₃ resulted in complete inflorescence emergence with 80% efficiency and accelerated anthesis by 35 d, demonstrating unprecedented potential for manipulating anthesis timing. These findings elucidate the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying anthesis time in <italic>C. miniata</italic>.