Flowering Responses of Dianthus Caryophyllus to Some Organic Matter Treatments

The carnation (Dianthus caryophylus) is one of the commonly known flowers and the most cut-flower species around the world. This study was conducted in two experiments using the split-plot design at the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, College of Agricultural Sciences, University of Baghdad during spring 2023-2024. Seedlings of the 10-12 cm tall Grace variety carnation imported from Turkey were sowed in small pots and transferred to the soil after the appearance of the 4th leaf. Straw wheat and palm waste compost were added to the soil after removing the soil from the panel at a depth of 30 cm and mixing with the removed soil. The concentrations of straw wheat (A1 and A2) and palm waste (A3 and A4) were 2 and 4 kg, respectively, together with the spraying application of aloe vera extract (B1 and B2) at 10 and 20 g/l. Seven growth and flowering characters were measured i.e., number of flowers/plants, flower stem length, flower stem diameter, carbohydrate percentage in flowers, anthocyanin pigment percentage, fresh flower weight (g) before storage, and the vase-life of stored flowers. The results showed a significant effect of using palm waste (4 kg) and 20 g of aloe vera gel over the other treatments and control in all the tested parameters. For instance, number of flowers/plants recorded the highest value at 13.93 together with flower stem length (66.5 cm), carbohydrate percentage (0.893%), flower stem diameter (22.51 mm), fresh flower weight (35.16 g); anthocyanin pigment percentage (94.63%), and the vase-life of stored flowers (8.574 days). As such the use of 4-kg palm waste and spraying with 20 g of aloe vera gel on carnation plants is recommended to enhance their growth and flowering characteristics