FLOWERS QUALITY IN RELATION TO PLANTING PERIOD IN SOME HYACINTH CULTIVARS.

The study evaluated the quality of flowers in nine cultivars of Hyacinthus orientalis L. according to planting time and forcing period. Biological material was represented by nine Hyacinth cultivars: ʻCarnegieʼ (Car), ʻBlue Jacketʼ (B J), ʻBlue Starʼ (B S), ʻChina Pinkʼ (C P), ʻFondanteʼ (Fon), ʻGipsy Queenʼ (G Q), ʻPink Pearlʼ (P P), ʻRembrandtʼ (Rem), ʻMiss Saigonʼ (M S). A mixture of leaf soil and sand represented the growth substrate. The planting was done on three different calendar dates: November 10 (P I), November 24 (P II), and December 12 (P III) 2018, respectively. Forcing period (FP: FP I, FP II, FP III), flower stem length (FS: FS I, FS II, FS III) and flowering duration (FD: FD I, FD II, FD III) were evaluated. ʻBlue Jacketʼ (B J) cultivar showed the highest values for flower stem (FS), with statistically assured differences for LSD 0.01% (FS I and FS II) and for LSD 5% (FS III), respectively. Differences statistically ensured for LSD5% were also recorded in ʻCarnegieʼ (Car), ʻFondanteʼ (Fon) cultivars (FS I and FS II), and in ʻGipsy Queenʼ (G Q) cultivar (FS I, FS II and FS III), respectively. The variation of the FS parameter in relation to FP, was described by a polynomial equation of degree 3 under conditions of R2=0.839, p=0.045 for FP I, and by a polynomial equation of degree 2 under conditions of R2=0.923, p=0.0016 for FP II. The flowering duration (FD) according to the forcing period (FP) was described by a polynomial equations of degree 2, under conditions of R2=0.873, p=0.0057 for FP I, and in conditions of R2 = 0.621, p=0.085 for FP II, respectively. PCA explained 58.498% of variance for PC1 and 30.622% of variance for PC2, in relation to the forcing period (FP); explained 58.052% of variance for PCI, and 34.78% of variance for PC2 in relation to flowering duration (FD), and explained 93.882% of variance for PC1 and 4.1988% of variance for PC2, respectively, in relation to flower stem (FS). Cluster analysis (two way) facilitated the grouping of the cultivars based on affinity in relation to FP, FD and FS, under statistical safety conditions (Coph. corr = 0.849). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]