FARMER'S NOTEBOOK
Disease tolerant rose variety for northern plains
M.J. PRABU
|
The matured flowers have a long shelf value.
|
ATTRACTIVE FLOWERS: The variety is suitable for cut flower production. — PHOTO IARI
SCIENTISTS AT the Division of Floriculture and Landscaping of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Pusa, New Delhi, have developed a new hybrid rose variety that is suitable for cut-flower production and garden display.
The new variety named `Pusa Mansij,' released recently has been developed through mutation breeding. It is the bud sport of `Raja Surendra Singh of Nalagarh,' according to Dr. S. Nagarajan, Director, IARI.
Flowers with stripes
This variety bears large sized, good high centred flowers with dazzling colours of orange salmon pink with cream white stripes and spots. The buds are beautiful and fully matured flowers have a long shelf value.
The variety performed consistently well for the past three years and is well accepted by rose lovers and growers all over north India.
It is best suited for growing in the northern plains. The plant is a vigorous growing hybrid variety and can attain a height of 95 cm and spreads to a width of 75 cm.
It is a moderately tall bushy variety with dark green foliage. The flowers are deeply and attractively coloured.
Moderately glossy leaves
Young shoots grow to a height of 20 cm and are bronze in colour. The leaves are dark green at the time of first flowering with moderate glossiness on the upper surface.
The diameter of the leaf is 27 cm and the width of the leaf is 5 cm. The terminal leaflet is medium in shape and its base is wedge shaped in appearance. The colour of the anthers is yellow with pinkish filaments.
The plant, which is a medium stature bush variety, produces ovoid pointed, orange coloured solitary buds, which on opening are orange pink in colour with distinct white stripes produced individually on long shoots.
Compared to the parent variety Raja Surendra Singh of Nalagarh, which produces fewer number of flowers, the improved variety yields 45 flowers in a year (ten flowers during winter and the number increases to 35 during spring.)
The diameter of each flower is approximately nine cm and the petal is about 25 cm in diameter. Each flower has 38 petals in it and the length of the flower pedicel is about six cm. The blooms have a life span of ten days on the field and also on plucking.
The plants attain maturity in about two months after pruning. The variety has about three short and five long concave prickles on the lower side of the shoot.
It is resistant to powdery mildew disease and other major infestations.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Sci Tech
