Growth and reproductive responses of tuberose )Polianthes tuberosa L.( to silica and silica nanoparticles nutrition in greenhouse condition

Tuberose (Plolianthes tuberosa L.), a member of Agavaceae family is an ornamental bulbous plant and one of the most important cut flowers in tropical and subtropical areas. The cultivation and growing of this plant take place by the bulb. One of the most effective cases on the growth and the quality of tuberose is appropriate nutrition. This experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design based factorial design with three factors [types of silica in two levels (normal and nanoparticle), nutrition method in two levels (soluble and foliar application), and concentration in three levels (0, 200, 400 mM)] and five replications (each replication consisted of a pot containing two bulbs) in greenhouse condition with soil medium. The results showed that the nano-silica treatment at 200 mM concentration with soluble method had the best effect on some of the traits such as leaf number, the fresh and dry weight of flowering stem, flower stem length, and diameter. Also, the spraying of nano silica at 400 mM concentration had the best effect on the fresh and dry weight of the bulb. Also, the foliar application of 400mM nano silica had the best effect on the fresh and dry weight of the bulb. In addition, the effect of the application of soluble silica at 200 mM concentration on the traits of leaf number, fresh and dry weight of the stem, plant height and a number of florets was lower than control