Gladiolus is one of the most attractive bulbous cut-
flower crops. Its wide open, good textured, impressive
coloured spikes have high demand in both international and
domestic markets. In recent years, demand for gladiolus
has increased owing to  its durability in long-shipping and
for its fantastic colour range-from blue to white, red, yellow,
pink, mauve and combinations of all the these colours. The
spikes of gladiolus are used mainly for garden display, interior
decoration and bouquet making. Total area under bulbous
ornamentals in the world is 50,000ha, of which gladiolus
occupies 9500ha. Major gladiolus growing countries in the
world are The Netherlands, UK, USA, Japan, South Africa
and Australia. US is a major producer of gladiolus and
exports 6.5 million gladiolus spikes while its import is around
13 million cut stems per year. In India, it is grown in an area
of 25,000ha with production of 753 lakh spikes. It is
commercially cultivated in West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and New Delhi (Rupa
Rani et al, 2007).

Gladiolus is grown round the year in tropical regions
of Karnataka and Maharashtra. In Tamil Nadu, it is grown
in a few places like Ooty and Kodaikanal.  Gladiolus is rich
in varietal wealth, and every year there is addition of new
cultivars. Hence, an evaluation of various cultivars was
carried out to assess suitability of growing these in the
Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu.

The experiment was conducted at Horticultural

Short communication

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 7(2):206-208, 2012

Evaluation of gladiolus cultivars in Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu

A. Sankari, M. Anand and R. Arulmozhiyan
Horticultural Research Station, Yercaud-636 602

Tamil Nadu, India
E-mail: sathatnau@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT

Gladiolus grandiflorus L. genotypes were evaluated for growth and floral parameters in Eastern Ghats of Tamil
Nadu, under Yercaud conditions. Significant differences were recorded for all traits studied. Among 42 genotypes
evaluated, ‘Pusa Shagun’ and  ‘Pusa Swarnima’ recorded quality spikes with higher vase life indicating their suitability
for use in floral arrangement, while, genotypes like ‘Thumbolina’, ‘Priscilla’ and ‘Candyman’ were found superior in
characters like corm number, corm weight and corm diameter. Taking into account various growth and floral characters
of the genotypes studied, Pusa Swarnima, Pusa Shagun, Thumbolina, Priscilla and Candyman can be recommended
for cut-flower production in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu.

Key words: Genotypes, spike length, corms, gladiolus

Research Station, Yercaud, from 2006 to 2009. Forty two
genotypes of gladiolus were used in the study namely,
Thumbolina, White  Prosperity, Big Time Supreme, Morello,
Apollo, Charms Glow, Priscilla, Her Majesty, Western Song,
Tropic Sea, American Beauty, Summer Sunshine, Red Sea,
Red Ginger, Intrepid, Candyman, Red Majesty, Pacifica,
Jester, Peter Pears, Darshan, Sylvia,  Shobha,  Alderbaran,
Pusa Swarnima,  Eighth Wounder, Marvelous, Souvenir,
Punjab Dawn, Pascal,  Novalux, Red Beauty, Pink Glory,
Pusa Shagun, Prabha, Jacksonville Gold, GPG, Bis Bis, Green
Bay and Melody. The site of experiment is geographically
situated between 17o04' to 11o05' North latitude and 78o05'

to 78o23' East longitude at an altitude of 1500m Above Mean
Sea Level (AMSL). Average maximum and minimum
temperature during the course of study was 31.0oC and
12.4oC, respectively. Mean annual rainfall in Yercaud
recorded was 1572mm in 47 rainy days. Average relative
humidity was 75 per cent. Soil of the experimental plot was
lateritic with pH ranging 4.5 – 6.0. The experiment was laid
out in Randomized Block Design, with three replications.
Corms of 42 different genotypes were planted in a plot of
1.8m X 1.2m size, with a spacing of 30cm x 30cm. FYM
@25t/ha was applied 15 days prior to planting during land
preparation.  Uniform package of practices was followed
throughout the experiment. Growth and floral parameters,
viz., days to corm sprouting, days to flowering, spike length,
number of florets per spike, number of open flowers at a
given time, vase life, corm weight and number of cormels



207

Table 1. Comparative performance of gladiolus genotypes in Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu (pooled mean for the years 2006-09)

Cultivar Plant Days to No. of Corm diameter Corm Days to No. of Spike Spike Flower No. of Vase life
height corm corms (cm) weight(g) flowering florets length weight diameter days florets in water
(cm) sprouting per spike (cm) (g) (cm) remained  (d)

open

Alderbaran 103.9 13 17 5.6 50.4 97 10 101.2 62.1 9.9 5 10
American
Beauty 87.7 12 1 5.7 53.3 95 14 96.5 62.2 12.7 6 11
Appollo 85.8 14 45 6.0 45.1 107 12 131.7 66.0 10.2 5 12
Big Time
Supreme 87.1 14 31 5.5 47.2 110 14 91.9 61.8 11.6 5 11
Bis Bis 101.7 15 2 4.7 45.5 86 11 102.2 61.7 9.1 6 9
Candyman 91.5 12 4 7.0 63.7 103 13 114.4 56.2 13.0 5 10
Charms
Flow 69.1 10 7 6.0 55.9 94 7 94.1 49.6 11.2 7 12
Darshan 97.1 15 8 5.9 42.0 97 16 95.4 62.4 12.0 7 12
Eighth
Wonder 80.2 10 21 5.7 53.1 90 17 129.0 68.2 12.2 8 11
Green Bay 102.2 17 1 4.9 44.3 100 12 93.3 61.3 10.1 5 12
GPG 81.7 16 11 4.2 21.5 101 10 79.8 51.8 10.4 5 8
Her
Majesty 83.5 10 2 4.1 47.8 88 2 119.2 68.5 12.1 6 11
Intrepid 82.8 11 16 6.6 56.8 92 16 108.2 57.5 12.5 6 10
Jacksonvillie
Gold 79.2 10 3 5.1 39.7 100 12 79.4 54.3 11.3 5 12
Jester 72.2 11 36 5.7 51.1 93 12 82.9 59.2 10.3 5 10
 Legend 105.7 13 22 5.4 49.3 89 16 141.5 64.7 8.9 10 14
Marvellous 86.3 14 10 4.8 42.5 97 16 132.1 73.0 11.6 6 11
Mayur 73.7 12 13 5.8 53.0 84 10 96.7 65.1 10.1 4 9
Melody 95.2 16 2 3.7 33.8 72 10 70.7 57.9 11.9 6 11
Morello 50.4 9 3 5.0 28.1 87 10 85.4 54.5 11.9 4 11
Novalux 72.7 10 16 6.4 56.2 69 14 112.3 60.5 10.8 6 11
Pacifica 87.1 11 1 4.7 29.4 96 15 135.8 71.4 9.7 8 11
Pascal 87.8 10 5 5.0 45.4 79 13 93.9 63.0 8.3 6 11
Peter Pears 80.2 13 5 5.3 48.5 100 14 113.6 66.2 10.3 6 11
Pink Glory 94.7 15 5 4.8 47.5 93 18 135.1 72.4 12.1 7 11
Prabha 84.7 10 16 4.9 51.0 94 13 128.4 57.6 10.4 6 11
Priscilla 95.8 11 34 6.5 69.5 105 19 107.5 63.5 12.9 8 14
Punjab
Dawn 74.2 11 1 5.0 33.0 78 14 79.2 59.2 10.7 8 10
Pusa
Shagun 91.0 9 8 6.3 64.2 91 16 142.7 70.7 11.0 7 12
Pusa
Swarnima 69.5 12 38 5.3 55.4 96 19 136.3 72.4 12.5 8 12
Red Beauty 108.7 14 19 5.9 60.1 93 14 118.8 61.7 12.1 7 11
Red Ginger 89.4 13 26 6.4 58.5 104 14 138.8 64.9 12.3 7 12
Red Majesty 75.7 10 2 5.7 51.7 97 12 108.6 64.2 11.7 5 11
Red Sea 77.6 11 11 6.3 41.6 97 12 116.0 64.2 10.5 5 10
Shobha 70.2 14 7 6.2 53.6 87 14 119.6 61.1 12.4 8 11
Souvenir 96.7 13 24 4.7 38.9 92 15 125.7 67.8 12.2 6 10
Summer
Sunshine 79.3 11 11 6.3 54.2 108 15 158.0 62.2 11.6 6 12
Sylvia 69.4 14 22 6.2 57.0 95 12 118.6 72.0 10.7 5 10
Thumbolina 76.8 12 84 5.6 51.5 83 15 75.8 60.5 13.4 6 12
Tropic sea 87.2 9 29 5.3 34.7 106 18 136.8 67.5 10.0 6 13
Western Song 64.2 9 1 4.0 28.6 65 12 79.7 71.6 9.5 6 10
White
Prosperity 77.7 12 5 4.8 41.8 88 13 92.4 65.7 12.9 6 12
SEm (±) 13.02 0.83 5.33 1.07 5.47 7.57 1.76 11.77 4.23 0.82 0.67 0.90
CD ( P=0.05 ) 25.91 1.64 10.61 2.13 10.87 15.06 3.51 23.41 8.41 1.64 1.34 1.79

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 7(2):206-208, 2012

Evaluation of gladiolus cultivars in Eastern Ghats



208

per plant, were recorded and analyzed statistically for
assessing suitability of the cultivars for cultivation in Yercaud
region of Tamil Nadu.

Results revealed significant variation among the 42
cultivars with respect to all the parameters studied (Table
1). Plant height varied from 50.4 to 108.7cm, with cultivar
Red Beauty recording the tallest plants, while, cv. Morello
had the shortest plants. Similar results on variation in
vegetative characters were observed by Swain et al (2008).
Flower and cormel characters were significantly influenced
by the cultivar. ‘Morello’ recorded minimum number of days
(9d) to sprouting of corm, while, cultivar Green Bay recorded
maximum number of days (17d). Similar results on
vegetative characters were observed by Mishra (1997) in
gladiolus. Cultivar Western Song was found to be the earliest
(65 days) to first floret opening. ‘Big Time Supreme’ was
late in opening (110 days). Early and late cultivars can both
be used to prolong bloom period. Similar variations in early
and late cultivars of gladiolus had been reported by Aswath
and Parthasarathy (1996) and Swain et al (2008) in gladiolus.
Length of the spike is the most important character in
gladiolus. In the present study, longest spike (142.7cm) was
recorded in cv. Pusa Shagun, followed by cv. Legend
(141.5cm), Red Ginger and Pusa Swarnima (138.8cm),
while, cv. Melody recorded the shortest spike length of
70.7cm. The weight of spike was maximum in Marvellous
(73.0g) and minimum in ‘Charms Glow’ (49.6g).

There was a significant difference in the number of
florets among cultivars. The number of florets per spike
ranged from 10 to 19. Highest number of florets was
observed in ‘Pusa Swarnima’ and ‘Priscilla’ (19). Hence,
these were regarded as suitable for bouquet making. Dimri
(2002) and Swain et al (2008) also noticed significant
difference in floret number among different cultivars. The
variety Thumbolina exhibited higher flower diameter
(13.4cm) among the cultivars tested, and minimum flower
diameter was seen in ‘Pascal’ (8.3cm). Similar findings were
observed by Swain et al (2008) in the diameter of cut
flowers. In a cut flower, keeping quality is the most important
character influencing marketability of the flowers. Vase life
of the spike in water under ambient conditions was found to
be best in cvs. ‘Priscilla’ and ‘Legend’ (14 days), followed
by cv. Tropic Sea. Rupa Rani et al (2007) observed that cv.
American Beauty was the best in terms of duration of
flowering under natural condition.

Number of corms per plant was found to be
significantly different among cultivars. Cultivars also

recorded a wide variation in the number of cormels per
mother corm, which ranged from 0 to 84. The variety
Thumbolina recorded highest number of cormels. Swain et
al (2008) reported wide variation in corm and cormel
production in different cultivars of gladiolus. Corm weight
(69.5g) was higher in cv. Priscilla, while corm diameter was
the greatest in Candyman (7.0cm). Corm diameter and corm
weight are important parameters for producing quality spikes,
with more number of florets of a larger size. Wide variation
in corm and cormel production was also reported by Aswath
and Parthasarathy (1996) and Kamble et al (2004) in
different cultivars of gladiolus.

It is evident from the study that cvs. Pusa Shagun
and Pusa Swarnima recorded good quality spikes with higher
spike length, number of florets per spike, number of flowers
that remained open at a given time and, vase life, indicating
their suitability for use in floral arrangement. However, cvs
Thumbolina, Priscilla and Candyman were found to be better
with respect to corm number, corm weight and corm
diameter. Hence, with regards to various growth and floral
characters, cultivars Pusa Swarnima, Pusa Shagun,
Thumbolina, Priscilla and Candyman can be recommended
for cut flower production in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu,
under Yercaud conditions.

REFERENCES

 Aswath, C. and Parthasarathy, V.A. 1996. Evaluation of
gladiolus cultivars. J. Hill  Res., 9:147-149

 Dimri, D.C. 2002. Performance of some promising gladioli
cultivars under low hills of Uttaranchal. Prog. Hort.,
34:265-267

Kamble, B.S., Reddy, B.S., Gangadharappa, P.M. and
Kulkarni, B.S. 2004. Evaluation of quality parameters,
flower and yield. Harayana J.  Hort., 33:74-75

Mishra, H.P. 1997. Performance of gladiolus genotypes
under calcareous soil for North Bihar. Ind. J. Hort.,
14:77-92

Rupa Rani, Prasad, K.K. and Rakesh Ranjan. 2007 Studies
on varietal performance in gladiolus. Orissa J. Hort.,
35:35-38

Swain, S., Rath, C.S. and Seithi, B.K. 2008 Evaluation of
gladiolus cultivars for quality flowers and corm yield
under Eastern Ghat in high land zone of Orissa. Orissa
J. Hort., 36:122-123

Uppal, S. and Arora, J. 1994. Evaluation of different cultivars
of gladiolus under varying dates of planting. Punjab
Hort. J., 34:129-134

(MS Received 13 April 2012, Revised 30 July 2012)

Sankari et al

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 7(2):206-208, 2012