Thursday, August 11, 2016: 12:30 PM
Capitol South Room (Sheraton Hotel Atlanta)
Selection for correlative early seed germination and flowering in first year seedlings is challenging for producers. The objective of this study was to analyze pyrethrum populations for differential trait expression to determine whether selection could enhance correlative expression of these traits. Seven populations of commercial and wild seed were grown from sowing to flowering in Year 1; seedlings were selected in the plug production phase for early germination (Germ Wks. 1-3; G1-G3). Stem height, inflorescence height, no. of vegetative shoots, no. of flowering shoots, no. of ray petals/flower, flower diameter, disc diameter, mean petal length, visible bud date (VBD) and flowering were tracked. Seed germination week was significant for VBD and flowering dates for all seed lots and is an important trait to use for selecting early flowering plants. On average, it took 34-39 weeks to reach VBD and an additional 3-4 wks. to flower. Stem and inflorescence height had only slight variation. Two seed lots had significantly lower number of ray petals/flower (14.59-16.41) than the highest (20.55). Seed producers could select the earliest germinating seedlings (G1-G3) to enhance early flowering in field production the first year.