Response of <i>Lantana camara</i> L. subsp. <i>camarato</i> paclobutrazol and shading

Abstract

The effects of several shading materials on the response of Lantana camara L. subsp. camara to paclobutrazol were investigated in 1997 and 1998 under greenhouse conditions inAttica (37°48’20”N, 23°57’48”E), Greece. Treatments were shading (0%, 28% and 65%) and paclobutrazol (0, 20, 40, 80 and 160 mg L –1 ) drenches after pinching of the plants. As paclobutrazol concentration increased, plant growth, expressed by the growth index (GI), decreased, at all shading levels. At the same time, the number of flowers per plant increased to a maximum as paclobutrazol concentration increased to 80 mg L –1 . Concentrations above this resulted in a decrease in the number of flowers per plant, at all shading levels. The interaction between shading level and paclobutrazol concentration significantly affected the studied parameters. The growth index increased while the number of flowers per plant decreased as shading increased from 0% to 65%, at all concentration levels examined. Plants treated with paclobutrazol had greener leaves. At higher concentrations, some leaf distortion was noted. The most attractive plants (small with maximum flowering) were obtained with 80 mg L –1 paclobutrazol at 0% shading. Key words: Lantana camara, paclobutrazol, light intensity