Abstract

In 2000 and 2004, cultivars of Hemerocallis were treated with foliar applications of 2500 or 5000 ppm benzyladenine (BA) for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 consecutive weeks. In both years, BA increased ramet production of all cultivars although treatment response was cultivar dependent. In 2000, an increasing number of BA applications resulted in ‘Lavinia Love’ and ‘Beguine’ forming 1.6 to 3.2 and 0.7 to 1.1 more ramets, respectively, than control plants at 9 weeks after initial treatment (WAT), regardless of concentration. Increasing BA concentration increased ramet formation by up to one ramet in ‘Beguine’ and up to 3 ramets in ‘Lavinia Love’ at 9 WAT, regardless of the number of applications. At 9 WAT in 2004, increasing weekly applications of BA increased ramet formation in ‘Dainty Deb’ from a mean of 1.3 ramets with one application to a mean of 3.0 ramets with five applications, and in ‘Sarah Sikes hybrid’ from 0.5 ramets with one application to 2.1 ramets with five applications, regardless of concentration. Compared to control plants, ‘Dainty Deb’ increased ramet production by 1.9 ramets and 2.3 ramets at 9 WAT in 2004 when treated with 2500 ppm and 5000 ppm BA, respectively, regardless of the number of applications. Compared to untreated controls, ‘Sarah Sikes hybrid’ formed 1.1 and 1.3 more ramets when treated with 2500 ppm and 5000 ppm BA, respectively.