Effects of Plant Size, Temperature, and Light Intensity on Flowering of Phalaenopsis Hybrids in Mediterranean Greenhouses

Table 3

Effects of the different treatments during the phase of flower induction on the main flower stem characteristics in Phalaenopsis hybrids. Within each factor, ns or different letters indicate, respectively, nonsignificant and significant differences at = 0.05. Experiment 1 (effect of plant size): Large = “Sogo Yukidian”; Medium = “Chain Xen Diamond”; Small = “Pinlong”; = 5 leaves per plant in Large and Small hybrids and 7 leaves per plant in the Medium hybrid; = 3 and 5 leaves per plant, respectively. Experiment 2 (effects of thermal regime): hybrid “Premium”; = 21/19°C, = 19/17°C. Experiment 3 (effects of light intensity): hybrid “Premium”; = reference light regime, = supplemental lighting with additional PPFD of 150 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ for 6 hours per day.

	Stem length (cm)	Stalk diameter (mm)	Inflorescence length (cm)	Number of flowers (/stem)
Experiment 1 (effect of the hybrid)
Large	61.8^a	4.82^a	21.3^a	9.0 a
Medium	50.4^b	4.79^a	21.3^a	9.6 a
Small	31.9^c	3.01^b	16.7^b	13.0 b
Experiment 1 (effect of the plant size)
	51.4^a	4.37^a	22.2^a	11.6 a
	44.7^b	4.04^b	17.3^b	9.4 b
Experiment 2 (effects of thermal regime)
	65.6^a	5.87	27.3^a	10.14 a
	58.6^b	6.18	22.0^b	8.71 b
		ns
Experiment 3 (effects of light intensity)
	58.1	5.98	21.5	7.9
	61.8	5.96	22.5	8.6
	ns	ns	ns	ns