Thidiazuron maintains quality of miniature rose plants in pots

Abstract

Miniature roses (Rosa hybrida L.) are a popular year-round potted plants. The pot roses are pinched (removal of the tips) after planting to increase the number of branching. However, the pinching causes leaf yellowing and abscission problems. Therefore, we investigated the effects of treatments with different concentrations of thidiazuron (TDZ), a non-metabolized cytokinin analogue, to prevent the leaf yellowing problem in pinched potted miniature rose plants. Spray treatment of potted miniature rose plants with TDZ applied three days after pinching, reduced leaf yellowing induced by pinching, and delayed the flowering time of miniature rose plants. We also found that application of TDZ five days after pinching resulted in compact plants with shorter shoots as TDZ concentration increased from 10 to 80 µM. Therefore, our results suggest that TDZ affects the regulation of growth and development including shoot elongation in potted rose plants, and provides a new tool for preventing leaf yellowing and controlling plant height in ornamental pot plants. © 2019 International Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved.