Investigation of flowering characteristics and inbreeding protocol in some zinnia cultivars

In this study, it has been objected to determine some characteristics that deal with the flower, flowering period and pollen of sixteen zinnia cultivars and to reveal the appropriate inbreeding method for these varieties. We determined the doubleness status of flowers, the layer numbers of the capitulum, the capitulum formations process and the number of tubular and ray florets of each capitulum as the flower features. The first, 50%, full and lateral flowering times were evaluated to determine flowering period characteristics. The percentage of viability and germination was determined for pollen characteristics. It has been seed-set on zinnia cultivars, which are included in the study, by two different hand-pollination methods. Some features of the seeds obtained from hand-pollinated plants were evaluated such as the number, weight and dimension (width and length). In terms of seed number obtained from the pollinated tubular florets, the flower shaking method was more effective than the method of pollen transmits by brush while to seed number from the pollination of ray florets, pollen transmission by brush was found more successful. We obtained more successful results in the terms of the total number and weight of seeds by the flower shaking method. Besides, Dreamland Coral has been a more prominent cultivar in terms of these two features. According to the values of the width and length of seeds, the highest results were obtained in cultivars of the Dreamland and the Zesty serials.