Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of bulblet size on growth and bulb enlargement of Lilium Oriental hybrids, such as 'Sorbonne', 'Siberia', and 'Casa Blanca', grown in areas of high altitude (780 m), in 2009. The bulblets were oriented from tissue culture and planted to produce virus-free bulblets. All the three cultivars showed high vitality, with more than 93% producing shoots, even from small bulblets with a bulb circumference (BC) of less than 6 cm. Bulblets with BC 9-10 cm showed an increased height and number of leaves rapidly to induce the phase conversation from vegetative growth to reproductive growth. The bulblets of BC 9-10 cm in 'Sorbonne', 'Siberia', and 'Casa Blanca' had 2.0, 2.9, and 2.8 flower bud sets per plant, respectively. However, the flowers from those bulblets were not adequate as standard bulbs to produce cut-flowers for the domestic market. The larger bulblets showed more prosperous characteristics in growth and development of Lilium Oriental hybrids. Small bulblets had a high occurrence of viruses and leaf blight symptoms during cultivation, indicating the aggravated disease symptoms in the previously infected bulbs. 'Sorbonne' cultivars showed a high rate of enlargement of bulbs, and small bulblets under BC 6 cm produced more than 23% of the standard bulbs of BC 14-16 cm, which could produce cut-flowers for export. However, 'Casa Blanca' bulblets with BC 6-9 cm produced low bulbs of BC 14-16 cm at 21% level. 'Casa Blanca' cultivars had more bulb roots, longer root lengths, and higher weights than 'Sorbonne' and 'Siberia' cultivars. 'Casa Blanca' cultivars with BC over 9-10 cm grew rapidly and produced a high quantity of bulbs. In these results, 'Sorbonne' bulblets of BC 9-10, 'Siberia' bulblets of BC 10-12 cm, and 'Casa Blanca' bulblets of BC 10-12 cm produced 89%, 86%, and 93% of the standard bulbs of BC 14-16 cm, respectively. It is recommended that bulblets larger than the above sizes be used to produce cut-flowers for the export market. Experiment results suggest that production of bulbs larger than BC 18 cm requires bulblets that are larger than BC 12-14 cm of the three cultivars for the highest quality cut-flowers.