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Growth and flowering of Ixia hybrids as potted plants can be controlled environmentally by cool preplant storage of corms, regulation of greenhouse forcing temperatures, and application of a growth retardant. Paclobutrazol applied as a preplant corm soak, a postemergent drench, or a postemergent spray in combination with a 2- to 4-week preplant storage of corms at 7 °C, and an 18 °C day/10 °C night forcing temperature produced attractive and marketable plants. Chemical name used: β-[(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]-α-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol (paclobutrazol, Bonzi®).

Growth and flowering of Ixia hybrids as potted plants can be controlled environmentally by cool preplant storage of corms, regulation of greenhouse forcing temperatures, and application of a growth retardant. Paclobutrazol applied as a preplant corm soak, a postemergent drench, or a postemergent spray in combination with a 2- to 4-week preplant storage of corms at 7 °C, and an 18 °C day/10 °C night forcing temperature produced attractive and marketable plants. Chemical name used: β-[(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]-α-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol (paclobutrazol, Bonzi®).

`Sweet Sue' peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) trees were subjected to a factorial arrangement of treatments. At planting, trees were headed at 10 or 70 cm above the bud union and trees were trained to an open-vase or central-leader form. For the first 4 years, high-headed trees were larger than low-headed trees. After 7 years, open-vase trees had larger trunk cross-sectional area, tree spread, and canopy volume than central-leader trees. Open-vase trees had higher yield and crop value per tree, but lower yield and crop value per unit of land area or unit of canopy volume than central-leader trees. Crop density and yield efficiency were similar for all treatments.

Plant architecture is a major consideration during the commercial production of chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora Tzvelev). We have addressed this problem through a biotechnological approach: genetic engineering of chrysanthemum cv. Iridon plants that ectopically expressed a tobacco phytochrome B1 gene under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter. The transgenic plants were shorter, greener in leaves, and had larger branch angles than wild-type (WT) plants. Transgenic plants also phenocopied WT plants grown under light condition depleted of far-red wavelengths. Furthermore, the reduction of growth by the expressed PHY-B1 transgene did not directly involve gibberellins. The commercial application of this biotechnology could provide an economic alternative to the use of chemical growth regulators, and thus reduce the production cost.