Evaluación de la de poda de despunte a diferentes alturas en la flor de jamaica en el cantón Chilla.

Abstract

The hibiscus flower is a plant known for its great medicinal contributions. It is used from its calyxes, leaves, stem and root, for this reason, it is in great demand in other countries, however, in Ecuador it is not in high demand, this may be due to not receiving enough attention by producers or lack of knowledge about this crop, although currently there has been a greater interest in its calyxes as refreshing drinks and infusions. This research was carried out in the Quera Alto sector of the Chilla canton, province of El Oro. The main activities of the community are based on the production of cocoa, bananas, citrus, legumes and corn, which are sold in small markets in Chilla and Pasaje, as well as vegetables and the raising of cattle, horses, poultry and other animals for their own consumption. The effect of pruning on the yield of number, fresh weight and dry weight of calyxes of hibiscus flower (H. sabdariffa L.) was evaluated. A Latin square experimental design (5 x 5) was used with five treatments; pruning at 20 cm, 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm and a control without pruning in a total area of 〖250 m〗^2 and 25 experimental units of 1 m wide by 4 m long each, with 10 plants per plot for study. The variables evaluated in the plants were: days to flowering, plant height at 131 and 159 days, number of primary branches at 131 days, number of calyxes, fresh weight yield (g) and dry weight (g) of calyxes with the capsule. In the evaluation, it was found that the pruning pruning influences the yield of the calyxes of the hibiscus flower and is directly related to the number of primary ramifications, due to the effect of pruning that stimulated the development of ramification and therefore a greater production, that is to say, the greater the number of branches, the greater the number of calyxes, therefore, the weight will increase. With regard to the variables of days to flowering and plant height at 131 and 159 days, it was observed that the T5 control without pruning presented a period of days late compared to the other treatments and greater height, this may be due to not performing the pruning pruning in the vegetative phase. It was determined that these evaluated variables had no effect on calyx production. Based on the results, pruning at 30 cm after planting obtained the best result, reporting a value of 8180.80 g fresh weight and 4260.80 g dry weight with the capsule, which proves that the best treatment was number two, however, treatment three, pruning at 40 cm, showed a minimal difference with treatment two, with a value of 8140.00 g fresh weight and 4242.40 g dry weight with the capsule, which shows that it is also feasible to prune at that height.