Effects of Different Nutrient Solution Concentrations on Yield and Cut flower quality of Gerbera Grown in Soilless Culture

This research was conducted to determine the effects of different nutrient solution concentrations on the yield and quality of gerbera plants in substrate culture system. The design was split plot. The main factor was four levels of nutrient solution concentrations with three replications. The concentration levels were made according to the based concentration suggested by Johnson in 1980 for macro elements: C1= 1191.4 mg/l, C2=1310.5 mg/l, C3=1548.8 mg/l, C4=1787.1 mg/l. The sub factor was three cultivars of gerbera include Casmo (Ca), Queen Victoria (Qu) and Treazer (Tr). The gerbera plantlets were planted into pots filled with perlite and peat mixture. Values of flower yield and cut flower quality criteria such as peduncle length, flower diameter and vase life had significant differences among nutrient concentrations and different cultivars of gerbera. The results showed that the maximum number of flower per plant (18) yielded from the Qu cultivar of gerbera nourished by C4 solution which consists of 157.5 mg/l N, 46.5 mg/l P, 204.7 mg/l K, 36 mg/l Mg, 120 mg/l Ca, 48 mg/l S, 2.3 mg/l Fe, 0.26 mg/l Mn, 0.23 mg/l B, 0.01mg/l Cu, 0.024 mg/l Zn and 0.007 mg/l Mo. The longest vase life (8.3 day) was obtained in Treazer cultivar of gerbera nourished by C3 solution which consists of 136.5 mg/l N, 40.3 mg/l P, 177.5 mg/l K, 31.2 mg/l Mg, 104 mg/l Ca, 41.6 mg/l S and micronutrient elements were the same in all of the nutrient solution.