Bulb and bulblet production of lilium influenced by planting materials and shade conditions

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Floriculture Research Field, Horticulture Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute during August 2020 to June 2021 to evaluate bulb and bulblet production of Lilium with two propagating materials under three shade conditions. A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was used with two factors: planting materials (bulblets and scales) and three shade conditions: greenhouse (55% sunlight reduction), UV polyhouse (50% sunlight reduction), and polycarbonate sheet house (70% sunlight reduction). Bulblet-derived plants produced significantly longer roots (13.65 cm), more bulbs per hill (0.85), and the heaviest (5.42 g) and largest (2.0 cm) bulbs. The UV polyhouse yielded the highest root count per plant (8.07), maximum leaves at 90 and 120 days after transplanting (12.25 and 17.64), maximum number of bulbs/hill (1.13), the heaviest and largest bulb (8.34 g & 2.82 cm). The polycarbonate sheet house promoted the longest roots (14.18 cm) and tallest plants (13.50-16.98 cm) started from transplanting to 150 days after transplanting. Greenhouse conditions favored bulblet formation, with the highest number (3.43) and weight (3.05g) per hill. Overall, using bulblets in a UV polyhouse gave the best performance across key growth and yield traits.