Effect of pruning height on growth and cut flower production of rose (<em>Rosa hybrid</em> L.) variety ‘White Success’

Abstract

Pruning is an inevitable practice in rose cultivation which stimulates the development, flowering and longevity of the cut roses. Optimum pruning height of rose var. 'White Success' was not identified yet. Thus, the present experiment was performed to estimate the consequences of diverse pruning heights on growth and flower production of rose var. 'White Success' at the Regional Agricultural Research and Development Centre, Bandarawela, Sri Lanka from January to April 2019. The experiment was arranged according to randomized complete block design with four replications. One-year-old budded rose plants were hard pruned at 15 cm from the ground level before the commencement of the experiment and allowed to grow for a period of one month. Eight treatments were defined based on different pruning heights. Analysis of variance was performed to decide the treatment effects on measurements. Results revealed that pruning was positively influenced the growth and flowering of roses than non-pruned plants. The highest performances in measured parameters were observed in pruning shoots from 15 cm above the bud union. According to the results of the present study, it could be concluded that growth and the flowering of roses could be increased by pruning practices. Pruning of new stems at 15 cm above the bud union is the best method to get higher production of quality flowers from "White success".