Abstract
The effect of mother-stem length on cut flower stem yield and characteristic form during the high-rack training system for rose plants ‘Asami·Red’ (syn. ‘Rote Rose’) was studied for five different mother-stem lengths, 0 cm (control; arching), 5 cm, 10 cm, 15 cm and 20 cm for a year. Three months after being planted on a high rockwool bench in September 1997, all scion stems and Rosa odorata Sweet rootstock stems were bent below the horizontal position. The yield of cut flowers was much higher in the 15 cm and 20 cm treatments than in the 0 cm, 5 cm and 10 cm treatments. The characteristic form of the cut flowers, i.e., stem length, stem weight and weight/length ratio (g·cm−1), after 0 cm treatment was superior to those after treatments. However, the characteristics of cut flowers in the high-rack system was commercially acceptable and almost the same for each of the other four mother-stem lengths. These results suggest that mother-stem lengths of 15 to 20 cm may be the most favourable for the high-rack training system of ‘Asami·Red’ rose plants.
