Effect of Foliar Application of Chemicals on Plant Architecture in Potted Ixora chinensis var. ‘Mini Double’

The investigation aimed to study the effect of foliar application of chemicals on the plant canopy, vegetative growth and flowering, as well as on overall appearance of the Ixora chinensis plants grown in pot. Application of salicylic acid, benzyl adenine and silicon at different concentrations significantly influenced the growth, flowering, pigments as well as overall appearance of Ixora chinensis plants as compared to untreated plants (control). Plants treated with 10 mg/l and 20 mg/l salicylic acid showed significant increase in plant height, plant spread, number of branches with thicker stems and number of leaves and leaf area during the experiment. Further, the number of inflorescence per plant, inflorescence diameter and flowers per inflorescence were observed maximum in plants treated with 10 mg/l salicylic acid. Improved flowering period (89.60 days), delayed senescence and maximum in situ flower longevity (14.87 days) was observed in ixora plants sprayed with benzyl adenine at 30 mg/l. The maximum chlorophyll content (1.81 mg/g) in leaves and maximum anthocyanin content (0.282 mg/g) in petal tissue was observed with application of silicon at 1.5 % concentration, which was followed by silicon at 1.0 % concentration. The highest overall appearance as pot plant (4.15) on a visual basis was noted in ixora plants sprayed with salicylic acid at 10 mg/l, which was followed by salicylic acid at 30 mg/l and benzyl adenine 30 mg/l.