UNIT – 1
CHAPTER –
3
TUBEROSE
Family: Amaryllidaceae
The tuberose
is a native of Mexico.
Tuberose Growing States Of India
West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
Uses of Tuberose
Ø an important perennial bulbous flowering
plant
Ø grown as cut flower
Ø grown as loose flower
Ø important source of raw material for
perfume industry. The tuberose
flower oil of commerce is one of the most sought after and expensive raw
materials in perfumery.
Ø They are used for making artistic garlands,
floral ornaments, bouquets and
buttonholes.
Plant and Flower
characteristics
Ø Tuberose is a half hardy, bulbous
perennial.
Ø The leaves are light-green, long,
narrow and very dense /rosette, grass- like.
Ø The leaves sometimes reddish near the
base.
Ø The flowering stems are long and can
reach a height of up to 100 cm, although 60 to 75 cm is normal.
Ø The flowers have funnel shaped
perianth, measures 3 to 6 cm in length,
fragrant and are borne in pairs on a long spike
Climate and soil
It is a warm climatic flower.
In general, cool weather, high atmospheric humidity
and
moist soil conditions are congenial for the production of high quality
flowers and bulbs.
Porous, well drained sandy loam
soils are the best suited for tuberose cultivation.it should be moderate fertile with good water holding capacity and with
pH
ranging between 7-8.
Season of
planting
Ø Tuberoses are generally planted
in February-March in the plains and
April-May in the hills.
Ø The bulbs can also be planted during
July-August.
Cultivars and varieties
There are four groups of cultivars classified based on floral characters.
1. Single: Flower is pure white and has only a single row of corolla segments. Cultivars are Srinagar, Calcutta Single, Mexican Single and Suvarna Rekha, Rajat Rekha , Hyderabad Single , Pune Single.
2. Double: Flowers are white, tinged with pinkish red. Petals are in several whorls. Cultivars are Suvasini, Calcutta Double and Pear
Double,
Hyderabad Double, Vaibhav.
3. Semi-double: Similar
to
double but with only 2 to 3 rows of
corolla
segments.
4. Variegated: This has variegated leaves with
yellow margins. National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow has developed
two variegated varieties Rajatrekha and Swarnarekha by gamma irradiation
Selection of site
Tuberose is a sun-loving plant, so it needs sufficient sunlight for better vegetative growth and maximum yield of flowers. The site should be chosen, where the plants will get enough sunlight throughout their growing period. This field should be away from shade condition because shade condition plant showed lanky growth. The soil should have sufficient moisture holding capacity but not water logging condition. Even a short period of water stagnation may damage the root system and affect the plant growth.
Propagation
Propagation is by bulbs and division of bulbs. Selection of suitable bulbs is very important for
successful cultivation. Boat shaped /spindle shaped bulbs of size
2
to 3 cm, free from diseases is preferred for planting. Propagation through mature bulbs is expensive; therefore multiplication can be done by division of bulbs. The bulbs are cut into 2-3 vertical sections, each containing a bud and a part of the basal plate. These sections are treated with fungicide and planted vertically
in
a rooting medium with their tips just showing above the surface.
Seed/bulb treatment:
Tuberose bulb have a definite resting period after lifting from the soil. Dipping
the
bulbs in 4% solution of thiourea can break the resting period. The bulbs are first thoroughly cleaned and treated with Bavistin (0.2%) for 30 minutes. Dry in shade before planting or storing.
Planting:
The best time of planting is April-May to July-August. Bulbs (25 to 30 g) are planted (112,000 bulbs/ha) on ridges. Bulbs are planted after 30 days of harvest. The planting distance varies with the soil and climatic conditions. Bulbs are planted at an optimum spacing of 30 x 20 cm or 20 x 20 cm. The depth of planting varies from 3.0 - 7.0 cm depending upon the diameter of the bulb and the soil type. It should be 2.5 times more than the diameter of bulb. Deep planting of bulb delay the appearance of shoot and flowering also.
Land Preparation:
Land is prepared well by ploughing two or three times. FYM @ 30 t/ ha is mixed well with soil.
Fertilizer Application:
A fertilizer dosage of 100:50:50 kg/ha N: P2O5:K2O
is recommended. Of these,
half N, full P2O5 and
K2O
are applied at the time of planting. Remaining N is
applied when the
flower spikes start to appear.
Irrigation:
It is very essential to irrigate before planting to provide optimum moisture for
sprouting and further irrigation should be
avoided until the bulbs are sprouted. A heavy irrigation once in 5-10 days is necessary depending upon the weather
conditions.
1. Earthing up: Earthing - up enables the spikes to grow erect, despite strong winds
and
rains. Earthing up to 10-15 cm height is done
when plants are 15- 20 cm high.
2. Staking: The flower-spikes should be supported by stakes after about 2 1/2 months of planting. Staking with bamboo or wooden sticks is done.
3. Application of Growth regulators: The application of CCC at 5000 ppm and GA3 at 1000 ppm induces early flowering, increased flower stalk production and improves the quality of flowers.
4. Weeding:
In the initial stages of bulb growth weeding is done in a fortnightly interval. Close planting reduces weed growth. Chemical control can be done by Atrazine @ 1.2kg a.i./acre as pre emergence application. Mulching the plots with strips of black polythene, dried grass and chopped straw is effective in controlling weeds.
Plant protection:
Pest management:
The important insects attacking tuberose are thrips aphids, bud borer, weevils and grass hoppers. The major non insect pests attacking tuberose are nematodes, red spider mites, slugs, rodents etc.
Name of the pest | Damage | Control |
Thrips | Sucks sap on leaves, flower stalk and flowers | Fipronil 5 % SC @ 1.5 ml/ l |
Aphids | Feeds on flower buds and flowers | Imidacloprid @ 1.5ml/l |
Nematode | Stunted growth, rotting of roots | Carbosulfan 3 G 1 g/plant |
Disease Management
The diseases reported are stem rot, flower bud rot, leaf blight, Sclerotial wilt, Alternaria leaf spot , rust, powdery mildew etc. Soil drenching with Carbendazim will effectively control stem rot. Leaf blight and leaf spot can be controlled by spraying Bordeaux mixture or Zineb.
Harvesting:
Flowering of
tuberose starts 3 to 3 1/2
months
(80
to 100
days)
after planting. August-September is the peak period of flowering.
Depending on the
purpose, harvesting is done by cutting the spikes from the base or single flowers are harvested as they open day by day. For marketing of cut flower spikes, the tuberose is harvested by cutting the spikes from the base when 1-2 pairs of flowers open on the spike .Spikes are harvested at preferably in the morning before sunrise or late in the evening
by clipping with a sharp knife or secateurs that
give a clean cut.
One
hectare of tuberose plantation yields 4 - 5 lakhs of spikes per
year.
Lifting of Bulbs:
Lifting of
bulbs from soil at proper
stage of maturity is an important
operation for proper storage of bulbs and also getting their best performance in
next season crop. Bulbs reach maturity at about 40-50
days after flowering and at
this stage, leaves become yellow and dry. Irrigation is withheld a few days prior to uprooting, to facilitate easy digging. Clumps are dug out with a spade or pickaxe
and
the soil, cleaned and bulbs
are separated out. Bulbs are graded based on size
(diameter)
and
stored separately in a cool, dry and shady place.
Post-Harvest operations
1. Enhancing
Vase life: Immediately after harvest, the lower portion of the cut spikes should
be immersed in water for
prolonging the vase
life of
spikes. The spikes are made ready by
removing the unwanted leaves to minimize the
transpiration loss for
sending to floral markets.
2. Pulsing: Pulsing of spikes at
low
temperature (10oC),
for about four hours with the ends immersed in water,
is helpful in prolonging life of spikes to be sent to
distant markets.
3.
Holding solutions: A holding solution consisting of sucrose
2 %
and Aluminium sulfate
300
ppm is best for
increasing the post-harvest life and quality.
4.Grading: The flower spikes for cut flower purpose are graded according to the
quality attributes viz., Spike length,
Length of rachis, Number of
flowers per spike,
Weight of spikes and
quality of individual florets The individual florets for loose flower
purpose are graded according to their size.
5. Storage: The fresh flowers can be stored at 10oC for 5 days.
6. Packaging: For cut flower purpose, long spikes are preferred and are sold in
round bundles or bunch. Each bundle /
bunch contains 25, 50 or 100 spikes. The stem
portion of the bundle has to be wrapped with newspaper. To avoid damage of
the
flowers and buds, the whole bundle should be wrapped in soft, white tissue
paper or polythene sheet / cover. These bundles are packed in
rectangular bamboo
baskets lined with Hessian cloth.
Ratooning:
After the harvest of
the main crop, the flower stalks are headed back and the plot is
manured and
irrigated. Three or
four ratoon crops can be
taken from single planting.
Crop duration
It extends up to 2 years. The
crop can be maintained for one
more year
with good
management practices.
Yield:
The average yield of flower is as follows:
Plant crop: 5-10 t/ ha (2-4 lakhs spikes/ha)
First ratoon: 9-12 t /ha
Second ratoon: 4-6 t/ha
Value added products:
Tuberose Absolute is highly fragrant floral oil that is most often used for
perfumery and natural fragrancing work. Extraction of tuberose flowers with
petroleum ether yields.
Tuberose concrete which is a light to dark brown semi solid. One hectare of tuberose plantation may yield up to 12 kg of concrete.
_________________________________________________________________
Reference:-
- Ready reckoner on cultivation of tuberose-technical bulletin no. 50-ICAR
- TNAU Agritech portal
- CEL KAU
- Package of practices recommendations crops 2016-kau
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