STUDIES ON SOME FACTORS INFLUENCING ON ACCLIMATIZATION OF SOME INDOOR PLANTS

Abstract

Schcffl era plants considered to be among the best ornamental foliage pl ants used widel y for the decoration and interi orscapers. They are remarkable for the ir formation and variegate or d arkgreen lea flet. Schefflera plants when moved from the production greenhouse to interior environment, leaf drop often occur which reduce their aesthetic a ppeal. Consequentl y, this work originally aimed to investigate the effect of some shad ing methods, fertilization a nd Naphthal ene aceti c acid (NAA) on acclima ti zation oftwo Schefflera sp.:

1- Schefflera arboricola Pov. (Heptaplureum arboricola).

2- actinophylla End l. (Brassaia actinophylla).

This i nvesti ga tio n was carr ied o ut during the t wo successi ve seasons of 1 998 a nd 1 999 a t the Ex perimen ta l S tation, Faculty of Agriculture, Ma nsoura University.

Treatments included 4 methods for acclimatiz ltion as follow:

1- Non-occlimat ized plant s (control plant.s):

Pl ants were grown in the prod uction greenhouse (3 months). After this pe r iod , plants were moved directl y to the interior env ironment room until the end of the experiment (4 months).

2- Acclimatization method 1

Plants were transferred from the production greenhouse to lath greenhouse for 3 mon t hs, then pl ants were moved to interior en vi ronment room until the end of the experimen t (4 months).

3- Acclimatization method 2: Plants were tra nsferred from the production greenhouse to shadi ng place (45 days), after this period, plants were moved to lath greenhouse (45 clays), and then they were tra nsferred to interior environnient room until the end of the exper iment (4 mon t hs).

4- Acclimatization method 3: Plants were tra nsferred from th e production greenhouse to the lath greenhouse (45 days) and then pla nts were mo ved to the shading place (45 days). After this period, plants were tra nsferred to the interior en vironment room (4 m onth s).