Axillary bud formation in chrysanthemum as affected by the number of leaves

The effect of assimilate supply on the formation of axillary buds of chrysanthemum was studied. Three stock plant management systems were made by varying the number of leaves available per axillary bud and the time of taking cuttings. Axillary bud development was divided into formation, i.e. before taking cuttings and outgrowth, i.e. after taking cuttings. To study the effect of bud formation and outgrowth separately, the axillary buds were grown in vitro and intact on the stock plants. These experiments showed that assimilates influenced both axillary bud formation and outgrowth. A larger amount of assimilate accelerated axillary bud development before cuttings were taken and more developed axillary buds resulted in plantlets of higher quality, size and weight.