How to enforce non-flowering plants to produce flowers: Reasons and remedy
| Topic | Wintering, ways of artificial flowering, plant growth regulators, flowering in plants |
| Major subject | Pomology |
| Category | Gardening and Orchard management |
Key words
- Artificial flowering in plants
- Wintering in plants
- Off season flowering in plants
| List of contents |
|---|
| 01: Introduction |
| 02: Causes |
| 03: Measures of getting flowers in plants |
| 04: Important saying |
Also read: What is wintering in Rose?
01: Introduction
The problem of not flowering in trees is mainly due to the internal conditions of the tree not being favourable. There can be many reasons for the internal condition not being favourable, which does not allow flowers to bloom in a tree.
02: Causes
- Carbohydrate and Nitrogen Ratio (C/N ratio)
- Imbalance in growth regulating substances
- Deficiency of elements
- Heredity character
2.1: Carbohydrate and Nitrogen Ratio (C/N ratio)
Trees do not flower due to imbalance in the ratio of carbohydrate and nitrogen. This state of imbalance occurs due to excess of nitrogen. Because of this there is more vegetative growth in a plant. Due to excessive vegetative growth, the accumulation of carbohydrates in plants is absent, and due to this plants do not flower. These plants are more lush green.
Due to the use of more nitrogen in and more irrigation in farming, continuous vegetative growth is seen in the plants. Both these conditions are not good if the C/N ratio is too low or too high. This ratio should be medium.
2.2: Imbalance in growth regulating substances
There are some such growth regulatory substances in the trees which control the reproductive function in them. If their balance is right, then the process of reproduction in trees continues to be regular. Fruits and flowers are the result of the breeding process. Growth regulator substances also indirectly help in flowering. Some biochemical activities are also controlled by them. Due to lack of balance in these activities, plants become sterile.
2.3: Deficiency of elements
The deficiency of the following elements may cause the problem of flowering:
- Phosphorus
- Boron
- Sulfur
Although these elements indirectly affects the flowering. The deficiency of these elements result in low flower bearing in plants.
2.4: Heredity character
This is an important factor. Some trees don not bear flowers due to heredity character. The heredity character is common in mango. This can be improved through a plant breeding programme.
Example of mango:
- Neelum: It is a regular bearing variety of mango
- Dusehari: It is an irregular bearing variety of mango
Mallika and Amrapalli are the two regular bearing varieties of mango that have been developed by hybridization programme between Neelum and Dusehari.
03: Measures
- Treatment of roots
- Ringing of notching
- Spraying of growth regulators
Also read: PGR MCQ: Plant Growth Regulators (Phytohormones)
3.1: Treatment of roots
Digging the roots, that is, removing the soil and cutting off the supporting roots, is called root treatment. This action is based on the principle of transfer of power in trees after harvesting pruning. By this action, the continuous vegetative growth of the trees stops and the accumulation of carbohydrates starts.
As a result, due to the accumulation of carbohydrates, flowers appear in the trees. Thus the C/N ratio gets improved.
Procedure of treatment of roots
In this process, the roots are opened by removing the soil around 1 meter area from the stem so that sunlight and air can get in them. The drain should be 1/2 meter wide and 15 cm deep. Now the auxiliary roots are cut off leaving the main and thick roots and irrigation is stopped. This process is done when the leaves start turning yellow and falling. In such a situation, the tree is kept for 5-7 days and for 10-15 days in the summer month. The depth and width of the excavation depends on the age of the tree.
Due to this process of pruning, the trees are not able to take water and the amount of water in them decreases. The excavated part is filled by mixing 40 kg of cow dung, 1 kg of super phosphate, and 1/2 kg of MOP. This practice was used earlier.
Due to this action the trees become weak and their lifespan decreases. Therefore, it is not done in fruit plants, especially in citrus crops. The C/N ratio is improved by simply stopping irrigation and doing light hoeing.
3.2: Ringing of notching
Ringing or notching is the act of removing the ring-shaped bark in thin twigs. Due to this action, the food items are not able to move from the twigs to the root. The accumulation of this food material occurs only in the twigs. In this way, due to the accumulation of food in the twig part, flowers start growing in it. Although this method should not be adopted extensively.
3.3: Spraying of growth regulators
The deficiency of growth regulator in the tree can be filled by the application of these PGRs. These substances are absorbed from the leaves and eliminate the imbalance of the growth regulator. Along with this, other biochemical reactions also operate in a favourable manner. Due to this the problem of flowering gets solved. PGRs are effective only in trees in which they do not occur or are inactive even when they are there. Nepthalene Acetic Acid in Pineapple and Ethryl in Mango are very effective.
Also read: Seed Dormancy: Treatment For Better Germination
04: Important saying
Along with the above mentioned causes and solutions, the natural environment, such as temperature, photo period, humidity, etc., also affect the flowering process. It is not possible to solve these reasons completely, yet they can be adapted by adopting proper horticultural actions. Sunlight especially affects the process of bringing flowers.
Getting enough sunlight in the trees is essential for their proper flowering and fruiting. Apart from this, it is also not less important that the amount of light falling on the garden land controls the fruiting of the trees. Therefore, trees being unnecessarily dense, so that light cannot reach every part of them, is undesirable from the point of view of function.