Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXVII, Issue 2
Written by Carmen NICU, Manuela MANDA
Zinnia elegans Jacq. is one of the most popular annual flowering plants, highly appreciated due to the great diversity of flower sizes, shapes and colours, as well as abundant blooming throughout the summer. It is widely used in gardens, and as a cut flower in bouquets and floral arrangements, but can also be grown in containers and pots, for patios and balconies decoration. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of exogenous salicylic acid (SA) applied in different concentrations (0, 75, 00 and 200 ppm), on the vegetative growth and flowering of this plant. The results showed that foliar application of salicylic acid had a positive effect on the main analysed morphological characteristics. The maximum values of plant height, number of branches per plant, leaf length and width, number of flowers and flower diameter were obtained in plants sprayed with 200 ppm SA, compared to control plants. The salicylic acid induced early flowering, the lowest number of days required to opening of the first flower was recorded at 00 ppm concentration.
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