Summary
The present research was carried out at the Cota Cota Experimental Center, of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, with the objective of evaluating the levels of chemical fertilization in stimulating the flowering of the gladiolus crop. The methodology used the experimental design of divided plots, bifactor design (Factor A – large plot: fertilization levels and Factor B – small plot: gladiolus varieties) using 9 treatments, distributed in 3 blocks (repetitions). The variables evaluated were: plant height, length of the floral rod, number of leaves, number of flowers, diameter of the floral rod, days to flowering, production of gladiolus flowers and corms, in addition to the analysis of production costs. in benefit/cost ratio. According to the results obtained in terms of plant height, the best treatment and variety was T8 with an average of 92.90 cm with the application of 350 kg/ha of 20-20-20 to the soil. The best response to the length of the flower stem of the plant was T8 with 77.67 cm with the application of 350 kg/ha of 20-20-20 to the soil. Regarding the number of leaves per plant, an average of 7 leaves/plant was obtained, for most treatments, having a homogeneous behavior. The response to the number of flowers per floral rod was T8 with an average of 13 flowers/rod with the application of 350 kg/ha of 20-20-20 to the soil. Regarding flower diameter, treatment T4 was the best with an average of 13.17 mm with the application of 130 kg/ha of 20-20-20 to the soil. The best treatment for days to flowering was T9 with 123 days, which the plant used from emergence to flowering, with a fertilization level of 350 kg/ha of 20-20-20. In flower production performance, the T8 treatments stand out with 3,423 dozen/ha and T8 corms with 313.0 @/ha. The greatest benefit/cost obtained is for treatment T2, which was 1.50 for the red variety, 1.45 for the pink variety, and 1.45 for the white variety.
