Production and quality of zinnia under different growing seasons and irrigation levels

Abstract

Zinnia (Zinnia elegans Jacq.) is a fast-growing and easy to cultivate plant that has flowers of different colors. This species has become an option to be introduced commercially in many countries as cut flower and its floral quality is influenced by different cultivation techniques. We evaluated the production and the quality of floral stems of zinnia (cv. Red California Giant) in response to growing seasons and irrigation levels. In a greenhouse located in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), zinnia plants were grown in two cycles (autumn-winter and winter-spring) in pots with water replacement corresponding to 46, 64, 75 and 100% of their water requirement. Based on the stem length and diameter and on the flower diameter, there was variation in the quality of the stems produced in the growing seasons evaluated. All stems from the autumn-winter cycle were classified as A1 (high quality), while almost 9% of the stems from the winter-spring cycle were classified as A2 (medium quality). There was a linear growth trend in the production and quality of zinnia stems with the increase of the irrigation level in most cases, as well as significant effect of the growing seasons, with the best results of number of stems, fresh weight, length and diameter of the stem and flower diameter found in the autumn-winter cycle. The weather conditions of this cycle favor the production and quality of zinnia floral stems, and the replacement of 100% of the specie’s water requirement is recommended in both cultivation cycles.

Yield response factor (Ky) and initial growth in black pepper in a tropical environment

“…The pressure switch turned off the irrigation stream when the soil water tension reached approximately 1.0 kPa. The SIC has been used in various studies and offers adequate irrigation management in the tomato (Gomes et al, 2017), onion (Mello et al, 2018), gladiolus (Santos et al, 2020), zinnia (Martins et al, 2021), and forest tree species (Bueno et al, 2020(Bueno et al, , 2021, among others, both in pots/tubs and under field conditions.…”

Scientific analysis of cut flowers: a review of the main technical issues developed

“…In order to increase the value of the product, research has been carried out on the efficient use of water (Piroli et al, 2022) and irrigation alternatives with water of lower quality than that commonly used in this productive sector (Rauter et al, 2021;Vera-Puerto et al, 2020), waters that generally, due to their salt content, complicate their use in horticultural crops or for human consumption, but can be used in the floricultural sector. Irrigation should not only be considered as a water source (Martins et al, 2021), but also as a technological alternative to increase the harvest and postharvest quality of flowers (Santos et al, 2020;, through irrigation management, water quality management and fertilizer supply control (Tsirogiannis et al, 2010). Different forms of cultivation are proposed for the use of water, both in open spaces and in protected environments, with soil, substrates or cultivated in both hydroponic and aeroponic solutions.…”

Morphophysiological changes in black pepper under different water supplies

“…The ceramic candles were installed at 15 cm depth from the substrate surface and, 40 cm below them, pressure switches were installed to allow irrigation system to be activated automatically when the water tension in control substrate reached 4.0 kPa. This tension has often been used in automatic irrigation systems for forest tree species (Bueno, Leles, Abreu, Santos, & Carvalho, 2020;Bueno et al, 2021), black pepper seedlings (Cruz et al, 2022), ornamental plants (Santos, Pego, Couto, Bueno, & Carvalho, 2020;Martins, Pego, Cruz, Abreu, & Carvalho, 2021), among others. Therefore, irrigation was actuated simultaneously in all pots, but at volumes varying according to the emitter flow rates (V1, V2, V3, and V4).…”