Effects of substrate culture, axillary bud removing and mother corm size on daughter corm production and morphological traits in the saffron plant (Crocus sativus L.)

The objective of this research was to study the effect of substrate culture، axillary bud removing and mother corm size on daughter corm production and morphological traits of saffron plant (Crocus sativus L.) An experiment was carried out in factorial based on completely randomized design with four replications. Treatments included mother corm size (large 9. 5-11 g or medium 6-7. 5 g) substrates (perlite or soil)، axillary buds removing (removing all axillary buds or no removing axillary buds). Results showed that the mother corm size had a significant effect on leaf dry weight، root dry weight، total dry weight of plants، daughter corm weight، and number of daughter corms. In addition، the large corms caused an increase in these traits. The highest root dry weight، root number، daughter corm dry weight، and total dry weight of plant were obtained in the perlite substrate. It was observed that the plants grown in the soil produced more as compared to those grown in the perlite. Although، root number and daughter corm size increased by the axillary buds removing، the number of daughter corms decreased by this treatment.