Guinea impatiens ( Impatiens hawkeri W. Bull) had a wholesale value of $330 million and were produced from ≈138 million cuttings ( National Agriculture Statistics Service, 2007 ). In this case, the loss of a single cutting is $2.38 lost in potential
Three cultivars of New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri) and two cultivars of double impatiens (I. walleriana) were grown in greenhouses maintained at 15, 20, and 25 °C. Bud diameter was measured twice weekly on five plants per cultivar from the time of visible bud to open flower. The experiment was repeated twice. For New Guinea impatiens, the time from visible bud (1-mm diameter) to open flower was 31, 43, and 72 days at 25, 20 and 15 °C, respectively. Flower bud diameter increased linearly as the bud expanded from 1 to 9 mm. For double impatiens, the time from visible bud (1-mm diameter) to open flower was 25, 30, and 58 days at 25, 20 and 15 °C, respectively. Flower bud diameter increased at an increasing rate (curvilinear response) as the bud expanded from 1 to 8 mm. These models are currently in commercial use to aid greenhouse growers in accurately timing crops for specific market dates.
The study was designed to provide information on the inheritance of certain characters important to drought tolerance in New Guinea impatiens. Seven genotypes, three were drought tolerant and four drought susceptible, were crossed in a full diallel with selfs. Drought tolerance of parents was estimated using stomatal conductance. At least 55 seedlings per cross were grown in the greenhouse for 2 months and evaluated for drought tolerance. Leaf fresh weight (LFW) leaf area (LA), leaf length (LL), leaf width (LW), and leaf thickness (LT) were measured using 10 leaves from each plant (parents plus progeny). From these measurements, we calculated LFW/LA and LL/LW. Stomatal conductance was measured on parents plus progeny of three crosses (drought tolerant × drought tolerant, drought tolerant × drought susceptible and drought susceptible × drought susceptible). Heritabilities and nonadditive and additive genetic variance for each trait were determined. All characters were significantly different between families. LFW/LA and LT was positively correlated with drought tolerance. The heritabilities for these traits were high, indicating that these characters can be used for selecting for drought tolerance in New Guinea impatiens and that rapid progress can be and was made in improving drought tolerance in New Guinea impatiens.
Four heat-tolerant (`Celebration Cherry Red', `Celebration Rose', `Lasting Impressions Shadow', and `Paradise Moorea') and three non-heat-tolerant (`Lasting Impressions Twilight', `Danziger Blues', and `Pure Beauty Prepona') cultivars were identified using a Weighted Base Selection Index. These cultivars were used as parents in a full diallel crossing block with reciprocals and selfs. Progeny from five parents (25 crosses) were evaluated for heat tolerance. Four floral (fl ower number, flower diameter, flower bud number, and floral dry weight) and five vegetative characteristics (visual rating, leaf size rating, vegetative dry weight, branch number, and node number) were evaluated with emphasis placed on continued flowering under long-term heat stress. In addition, progeny from all seven parents (49 crosses) were evaluated for inheritance of adaxial leaf color, abaxial leaf color, vein color, and flower color. Significant differences were found in each data category (P < 0.001) with the exception of node number, which was not significant. Flower number varied from 0 to 2, flower diameter varied from 0 to 41 mm, floral dry weight varied from 14 to 105 mg, bud number varied from 0 to 12, branch number varied from 5 to 15, and vegetative dry weight varied from 220 to 607 mg. General and specific combining abilities of the parents were evaluated as was heritability. It was found that the four heat-tolerant cultivars had higher general combining abilities. Heat tolerance has low heritability and is controlled by many genes.
New guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri) (NGI) `Pure Beauty Rose' (PBR) and `Paradise Orchid' (PO) were grown in full sun, 55% shade, or 73% shade and fertilized with a controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) [Nutricote Total 13-13-13 (13N-5.7P-10.8K), type 100] incorporated at rates of 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28 and 32 lb/yard3 of growing media (1.2, 2.4, 3.6, 4.7, 7.1, 9.5, 11.9, 14.2, 16.6, and 19.0 kg·m-3). Plant quality rating, shoot dry weight, and flower number were measured at harvest and substrate samples were collected to analyze final substrate pH and electrical conductivity (EC). For both cultivars, light intensity and fertilization rate interactions were different for shoot dry weight and flower number, but there was no difference in plant quality rating between the light levels. Quality ratings of both PBR and PO plants increased as CRF rate increased to 12 to 16 lb/yard3 above these levels quality was not improved. Shoot dry weight of PBR plants grown in full sun increased as CRF rate increased to 28 lb/yard3 and then decreased, while shoot dry weight of plants grown with 55% and 73% shade increased as CRF rate increased to 20 and 16 lb/yard3, respectively, with no further increases. Shoot dry weight of PO plants grown in full sun and 55% shade increased as CRF rate increased to 28 and 24 lb/yard3, respectively, with no further increases, while shoot dry weight of plants grown with 73% shade increased as CRF rate increased to 24 lb/yard3 and then decreased. Flower number of PBR plants grown in full sun, 55% shade, and 73% shade increased as CRF rate increased to 24 lb/yard3 and then decreased. Flower number of PO plants grown in full sun increased as CRF rate increased to 28 lb/yard3 and then decreased, while flower number of plants grown in 55% and 73% shade increased as CRF rate increased to 24 lb/yard3 and then decreased.
Fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (F-AFLP) and microsatellites (SSRs) were used to evaluate new guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri W. Bull) cultivars. Ninety-five quality-selected polymorphic fragments from 10 F-AFLP+3 primer combinations were used to evaluate 100 cultivars representing a variety of colors, forms, and breeding programs. Jaccard similarities and unweighted pair-group method of the arithmetic average (UPGMA) clustering formed a dendrogram with three cultivar groups, to a large extent clustering the cultivars by breeder with a high cophenetic correlation coefficient. A small insert genomic library was created and 442 kb of new guinea impatiens sequence was screened for repetitive motifs, resulting in 14 microsatellite markers. A subset of 46 cultivars representing five commercial breeding companies and 11 cultivar series was selected for microsatellite analysis. Seven loci were polymorphic, with two to six alleles per locus. Although both methods were equally effective in distinguishing the cultivars from one another, the topologies of the dendrograms for the two methods were different. The topology of the AFLP dendrogram reflected possible relationships based on cultivar series and breeding company, while the SSR dendrogram did not. The objectives of this research were to develop and validate both F-AFLP and SSR methodologies for new guinea impatiens, identify markers that can be reliably used for fingerprinting, and create a database for future cultivar comparisons.
Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of K fertilizer rates on growth of New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens Hawkeri Bull.), vinca (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don) and petunia (Petunia ×hybrida Hort. Vilm.-Andr.) in a recirculating subirrigation system. Based on a variety of growth parameters, a broad range of K concentrations allowed maximum growth, notably 1 to 6 mM for New Guinea impatiens `Ovation Salmon Pink Swirl', 2 mm for New Guinea impatiens `Cameo' and `Illusion', 2 to 8 mm for vinca `Pacifica Apricot', and 2 to 16 mm for petunia `Trailing Wave Misty Lilac'. Thus, the lowest concentration that allowed maximum growth was 1 to 2 mm K. A third experiment compared the optimum K concentration and K balance of vinca grown with recirculating subirrigation versus top-watering. Based on a variety of growth parameters of vinca `Pacifica Red', the lowest concentration that allowed maximum growth was 2 mm K with recirculating subirrigation and 4 mm K with top-watering. The K balance demonstrated that subirrigated plants were twice as efficient in K use compared to the top-watered plants. Leachate loss was the major contributor to inefficiency in top-watered plants. Electrical conductivity (EC) of the growing medium remained below the recommended level of 1.2 dS·m-1 in both irrigation methods at K concentrations of 16 mm and below in the bottom layer and 8 mm and below in the middle layer. In the top layer of the growing medium, EC was above the recommended level at all K concentrations tested in subirrigation at all concentrations, and in top-watering at 16 mm and above.
New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri Bull.) were grown in a recirculating ebb-and-flow subirrigation system under increasing levels of salinity stress from a mixture of NaCl and CaCl2 (1:1 equivalent ratio, 2:1 molar ratio) and recommended production levels of other nutrients. Growth and quality decreased as salinity level increased, with a 75% to 80% growth reduction at 18 mol·m-3 NaCl-CaCl2 compared to controls. Among controls, root mass distribution was 10%, 50%, and 40% in the top, middle, and bottom layers of the root zone, respectively. In the highest salinity treatment (18 mol·m-3 NaCl-CaCl2), most of the root mass was in the middle layer (80%), while the root mass in the top and bottom layers was reduced to 5% and 15%, respectively. The electrical conductivity (EC) of the growing medium was high in the top layer in all treatments, but only exceeded maximum recommended levels in the middle and bottom layers in the 4·mol·m-3 or higher treatments. Initial postproduction leaching caused the salts in the top layer to migrate to the middle and bottom layers, which in some experiments induced a rapid and transient wilting. Up to six leaching and drying cycles of a 0.20 leaching fraction were required to reduce EC in all layers to recommended levels. Overall, salable plants of good quality and size were produced with up to 2 mol·m-3 (total 152 mg·L-1) NaCl-CaCl2 in the recirculated nutrient solution.
.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Expt. 2. On 28 Feb. 2012, cuttings of Impatiens hawkeri ‘Celebrette Apricot’ and ‘Celebrette Rose Hot’, Petunia ×hybrida ‘Suncatcher Yellow’, and Pelargonium × hortorum ‘Savannah Red’ were stuck and grown as described in
from the stem below the abscission layer. Fig. 1. Abscission of an Impatiens hawkeri stem infected with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum prevented progression of the infection further down the stem. Table 3. Percent of impatiens plants that recovered from