Abstract

Nerium oleander an evergreen shrub is a reputed ornamental with plentiful and long lasting flowering behaviour. But the flowers open only in the early morning hoursmaking farmers harvest the unopened flower buds between mid-night and early morning with help of head lights making them prone to reptile and other poisonous insect bites. Considering the bottlenecks in the flower bud opening, the experiment is framed to understand the influence of different light and fogging system on growth, flower yield of Nerium. The experiment was conducted in farmers field at Salem district of Tamil Nadu, India with different lighting system (red, blue, white and yellow light) and water spray (fogging system) on local Nerium variety (pink coloured flowers) replicated thrice. The results of the experiments revealed that the taller Nerium plants (230.00 cm) was observed in the treatment water spray (fog) 15 min. for every one hour which was on par (242.00 cm) with the treatment blue light (450-495 nm) for overnight + water spray (Fog) 15 min. for every one hour. The flower yield was higher (129.0 g/plant) in the treatment water spray (fog) 15 min. for every one hour. All the lighting and fogging treatment does not influence the shelf life of Nerium flowers. The higher percentage of unopened flower buds after harvest (91.6) was recorded in the treatment water spray (fog) 15 min. for every one hour. Thus, for harvesting the flower buds during the evening time, the time interval for operating the fogging system must be reoriented and anthocyanin content of flowers may be measured.