ADAPTATION OF 'SANS SOUCI' LILIES TO POTTED PLANT CULTURE

Lilium 'Sans Souci' is usually grown as a cut flower, but would be a good new potted plant for American markets if height could be effectively controlled. We conducted two experiments to determine the effectiveness of ancymidol and XE-1019 in reducing height when applied as a foliar spray, soil drench, bulb dip, chemigation, or combinations of these. In experiment 1 XE-1019 applied as a spray at 1 to 25 ppm was as effective in reducing stem length as a drench at 0.1 to 0.5 mg ai/plant. Ancymidol applied as a foliar spray at 66 and 132 ppm was as effective as a drench at 0.25 and 0.5 mg ai/plant. In experiment 2 plants sprayed with ancymidol at 0.25 mg ai/plant were 6% shorter and at 0.5 mg ai/plant were 12% shorter than untreated plants. Similarly where plants were drenched with ancymidol at 0.25 mg ai/plant, height was reduced by 9%. The height reduction of plants where the bulbs had been dipped in 100 ppm ancymidol was 21% compared to untreated plants. Plants were 22% shorter than controls when ancymidol was applied through the irrigation water (chemigation). The effectiveness of ancymidol and XE-1019 in reducing stem length depended on the method of application. Ancymidol was most effectively applied as a bulb dip or chemigation and XE-1019 was equally as effective applied as a spray or drench. Combining the bulb dip with either a spray or drench was more effective than either treatment individually.