Soil treatment with chitosan hastened flowering
»15 d, whereas treatment of seeds with
lactic acid, with or without chitosan, hastened
it only 2 to 4 d (Table 2). At flowering, plants
grown in chitosan-treated soil had about two
more leaves than did plants in other treatments.
Leaf length and width at the fifth node
of plants grown in soil treated with chitosan
were greater than those of plants in the other
treatments. Shoots were also longer by »15
cm, while stem diameter did not differ among
the treatments..chitosan soil treatment clearly promoted vegetative growth. Cutflower
weight and flower number were greatest
in plants grown in chitosan-treated soil.
Thus, chitosan soil treatment remarkably promoted
growth of Eustoma grandiflorum seedlings,
hastened flowering time, and improved
cut-flower quality as measured by leaf size,
shoot length, and flower number.
Thus chitosan application may be useful
for the culture of Eustoma in the spring when
seedling growth is slow and cut-flower yield is
reduced.