Temporal stability of Heliconia spp. flower stem production

The instability of heliconia flower stem production may be related to climatic variation. Therefore, that information is very important for planning the species production throughout Brazil, mainly in northeast region. The objective of this work was analyzed the previous effects of photoperiod, air temperature and precipitation in the flower stem production of Heliconia psittacorum cv. Red Opal, H. psittacorum x H. spathocircinata cv. Golden Torch, H. stricta cv. Fire Bird and H. rauliniana, and the monthly temporal stability. The flower stems with two to three open bracts were harvested twice a week between May, 2004 and March, 2012 from a field in Camaragibe – PE, Rain Forest Zone of Pernambuco, Brazil. Pearson’s linear correlation demonstrate flower stem production occur in response to the environment stimulus. H. rauliniana inflorescence initiation response mainly to the shortest photoperiod and cv. Fire Bird to highest photoperiod. Production of the cv. Golden Torch was more stable in April, with reduction in September (39.46%) and an increase in December (87.02%), compared with the annual average. The cv. Red Opal produced more in September (31.43%), with a reduction in February (44.8%) and stable in July. H. rauliniana production was stable in September and increase in November (274.8%). The cv. Fire Bird production was stable in April, with the lowest production in November and the highest in March (65%). With this information is possible to predict the cultivar production in the Rain Forest Zone of Pernambuco State, Brazil