Caracterização de cultivares de girassol ornamental semeados em diferentes épocas no oeste catarinense

Abstract

The commercialization of flowers has been increasing annually in developing countries, what propels the diverse productive sectors. Thus, this study aimed at providing a characterization of ornamental sunflower cultivars sown at different times of the year in the west of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The cultivars assessed were BRS Oásis, BRS Refúgio M and BRS Paixão M which were sown in the following dates: October 2, 16 and 31, November 17, and December 01 and 15 of 2008. The experiment was conducted at EPAGRI, located in Chapecó, Santa Catarina. The experimental design was the randomized blocks with three replications and the treatments were distributed in a bifactorial. It was evaluated thirty-six phytomorphological and production variables as the flowers senescence after cutting. Among the main phytomorphological variables of great importance for cut flowers production, it was studied inflorescence diameter, stem diameter, plant height, inflorescence color, head diameter, number of days up to the stem cutting, number of secondary stems and number of primary and secondary leaves. It was also performed phytomass studies of the parts that constitute the plant. The results showed that the sunflower cultivars evaluated differ on the key variables assessed and flower senescence. The ornamental sunflower can be cultivated in the west of Santa Catarina, what allows picking programming of its stems as needed for using in ornamentation process. By using the senescence scale it is possible to quantify its durability of stems conservation.