INDIAN SOCIETY OF ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE

INDIAN SOCIETY OF ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE(Registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 Vide No. S/26153 of 1994; RNI No. 68936/98)

The Society was founded in 1990 to promote generation and dissemination of knowledge in ornamental horticulture amongits members and to facilitate closer interaction among them for furthering the growth of the ornamental horticulture sector.

Executive Council

Chairman : Dr. H.P. Singh, New Delhi

President : Dr. S.K. Malhotra, New Delhi

Vice Presidents : Dr. S.S. Sindhu, New DelhiDr. Krishna Pal Singh, PuneDr. T. Janakiram, New Delhi

Secretary : Dr. Prabhat Kumar, New Delhi

Joint Secretary : Dr. H.P. Sumangala, Bengaluru

Treasurer : Dr. Gunjeet Kumar, New Delhi

Chief Editor : Dr. Kanwar Pal Singh, New Delhi

Editors : Dr. Alka Singh, NavsariDr. D.V.S. Raju, New DelhiDr. Ritu Jain, New DelhiDr. Namita, New Delhi

Executive Councillors

Dr. Ramesh Kumar, Ludhiana Dr. D.R. Singh, GangtokDr. Y.C. Gupta, Solan Dr. M. Pratap, HyderabadDr. M. Jawaharlal, Trichy Dr. D. Barman, GangtokDr. A.S. Sable, Pune Dr. S.S. Mehta, SalemDr. S.K. Gutgutia, Bengaluru Mr. Naqvi, New Delhi

JOURNAL OF ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE

Editorial BoardDr. Sitaram Dhiman, Solan Dr. Imtiyaz Tahir Nazki, SrinagarMr. Somdutt Tyagi, New Delhi Dr. Mast Ram Dhiman, KatrainDr. Ranjan Srivastava, Pantnagar Dr. Sapna Panwar, New Delhi

Dr. Gaurav Sharma, Ranchi

Journal of Ornamental Horticulture is the official publication of the Indian Society of Ornamental Horticulture (ISOH),Directorate of Floricultural Research, IARI Campus, Pusa, New Delhi-11 0 012 (India). The Journal is published quarterly i.e.January -March; April-June; July-September & October-December, every year. The Journal is provided free to all members.Subscription fee for the Journal for non-members (institutions and individuals) is Rs 2,500 (Foreign: US $ 40) annually.

The membership of the Indian Society of Ornamental Horticulture is open to all persons interested in ornamental horticulture.For membership, write to the Secretary with the Membership Form and the specified membership fee. All correspondencerelated to the Society and its management should be addressed to the Secretary, Division of Floricultural and Landscaping,ICAR-IARI Campus, New Delhi - 110012 (India) and for business related matters (subscription etc.) concerning the Journalto the Treasurer of the Society.

JOURNAL OF ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE

Vol. 16 No. 1&2, 2013

CONTENTSManagement of foliar blight (Alternaria chrysanthemi Simmons & Crosier)of chrysanthemum 1M. Kavitha, B. Srinivasulu, M.L.N. Reddy and K. Swarajyalakshmi

Pollen studies in heliconia (Heliconia spp.) 5Nikhil Dileep Narkar, V.L. Sheela, Vikram R. Hutke and Darshan S. Kadam

Evaluation of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) genotypes (Double)for yield and genetic variability 10P. Ranchana, M. Kannan and M. Jawaharlal

Integrated Nutrient Management in gladiolus under Eastern ghat conditions 15N. Mageswari, R. Arulmozhiyan, A. Sankari, M. Anand and D. Durga Devi

Longevity of Jasminum sambac cv. Gundumalli flowers with reference torespiration and ethylene release at different storage temperatures 19P. Mekala, N. Kumar and M. Jawaharlal

Evaluation of gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.) cultivars for resistanceagainst botrytis blight caused by Botrytis gladiolorum 26P.K. Sehajpal and P.J. Singh

Effect of different potting media for pot mum production in chrysanthemumgrown under open and polyhouse conditions 35Madhu Bala and Kushal Singh

Efficacy of biofertilizers on growth, flowering and yield of Africanmarigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda under mid hillconditions of Garhwal Himalayas 40Vandana Dhami, V.K. Rao, Sanjay Sachan and Santosh Kumar

Assessment of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus ex. Hooker F.)cultivars under polyhouse condition 47Shwetha, K.B., Seetharamu, G.K., Ansar, H. and Anil Kumar, S.

Integrated management of fusarium wilt of gladiolus(Gladiolus hybridus Hort.) in Arunachal Pradesh conditions 52Sunil Kumar, K.S. Tomar, R.C. Shakywar and Mahesh Pathak

Evaluation of different organic potting media on growth and floweringof calendula (Calendula officinalis Linn.) 57Rohini Thakur, R.K. Dubey, S.S. Kukal and Simrat Singh

Vegetative growth, yield and quality parameters of daisy (Aster amellus L.)as influenced by gibberellic acid and genotypes 64Raveendra, Y.C., Shirol, A.M., Harish S. and Kulkarni, B.S.

Effect of spacing and nitrogen levels on growth, flowering and yieldparameters of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Dwarf Orange 70K.S. Tomar, Sunil Kumar, R.C. Shakywar and Mahesh Pathak

Studies on influence of nutrient and growth regulator interactions ongrowth, yield and quality of Dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17 75A. Patnaik, M. Kannan, M. Ganga and S. Vincent

Effect of different sources and levels of potassium on vegetative,reproductive parameters of African marigold (Tagetes erecta Linn.)cv. ‘Maxima Yellow’ 86M. Sanghamitra, V. Vijaya Bhaskar and P. Subbaramamma

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Management of foliar blight (Alternaria chrysanthemi Simmons & crosier) of chrysanthemumJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 1-4, 2013

Management of foliar blight(Alternaria chrysanthemi Simmons & Crosier)

of chrysanthemumM. KAVITHA, B. SRINIVASULU, M.L.N. REDDY and K. SWARAJYALAKSHMI

Horticultural College and Research Institute, Anantharajupet, Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University,Rly. Kodur, Kadapa (Dt), Andhra pradesh.

E-mail : kavithamaram @gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Field experiments were carried out for three consecutive years i.e, 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and2011-2012 at Horticultural College and Research Institute, Anantharajupet, Kadapa (Dt) to studythe effect of different fungicides viz., chlorothalonil (0.2%), captan (0.2%), azoxystrobin (0.075%),propiconazole (0.1%), tebuconazole (0.1%) and benomyl (0.1%) for the management of foliarblight of chrysanthemum. Among different fungicides tested, tebuconazole (0.1%) recorded lowestpercent disease index (6.06) and highest flower yield (73.49 q/ha) followed by propiconazole(0.1%) and azoxystrobin (0.075%) (15.48 and 16.24 PDI and 59.56 and 58.32 q/ha, respectively).The PDI was highest (50.62) with lowest flower yield in control. (33.07q/ha). In other fungicides,PDI in the range of 26.66 - 31.10. The B:C ratio of tebuconazole, propiconazole and azoxystrobinwas 5.55,4.56 and 4.19, respectively. Disease index (6.06) and highest flower yield (73.49 q/ha)were noticed with tebuconazole (0.1%) followed by propiconazole (0.1%) and azoxystrobin(0.075%) (15.48 and 16.24 PDI and 59.56 and 58.32 q/ha, respectively). The PDI was highest(50.62) with lowest flower yield in control (33.07q/ha). The B:C ratio of tebuconazole,propiconazole and azoxystrobin was 5.55, 4.5 and 4.19 respectively.

Key words: chrysanthemum, foliar blight, alternaria, management.

INTRODUCTION

The chrysanthemum is one of the most beautifuland perhaps the oldest flowering plants,commercially grown in different parts of theworld. It is important both as cut flower and aspotted plant in the international market. Therehas been constant demand for chrysanthemumflowers particularly from European marketsduring winter months and throughout the year inour country. However, it is not possible toproduce quality cut flowers all the year roundunder open field conditions.

For these several factors have been identified in

India. The most important factors identified are,the diseases like alternaria leaf blight, septorialeaf spot, rust, wilt, bacterial blight and nonavailability of leading varieties which areresistant to biotic and abiotic stresses. Amongseveral diseases, alternaria leaf blight caused byAlternaria chrysanthemi (Simmons, 1965) ismost destructive and cause heavy losses underfield as well as market conditions (Arun Kumar,2008). Generally, farmers use fungicides likemancozeb and carbendazim, but the use of samefungicides repeatedly result in possibility ofdevelopment of tolerance in pathogens. Hence,it is essential to identify and test new alternate

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M. Kavitha, B. Srinivasulu, M.L.N. Reddy and K. Swarajyalakshmi

fungicides other than regularly used fungicidesto avoid resistance in pathogens so that farmerscan reap good harvest with exportable quality.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Field experiments were carried out for threeconsecutive years during 2008-09, 2009-10 and2010-2011 at HCRI, Anantharajupet, Kadapadistrict to assess the efficacy of differentfungicides for the control of alternaria blight ofchrysanthemum under natural field conditions.The experiments were laid out in RandomizedBlock Design (RBD) with three replications.Theexperiment comprised of seven treatments viz.,chlorothalonil (0.2%), captan (0.2%),azoxystrobin (0.075%), propiconazole (0.1%),tebuconazole (0.1%) and benomyl (0.1%) anduntreated check served as control. Thechrysanthemum local variety was raised andmaintained by following recommended packageof practices (Anonymous, 2007). Each fungicidewas sprayed 4 times starting from the appearanceof disease in the field at 15 days interval. Datapertaining to the disease severity and flower yieldwere recorded. Ten plants were examinedrandomly and scored for disease severity byfollowing 0-5 scale (Kumar et al., 2011). Thedetails of scale are shown below:

0 - No disease symptoms.

1 - A few spots towards tip covering 10 percent leaf area.

2 - Several dark brown patches covering upto20 per cent leaf area

3 - Several patches with paler outer zonecovering upto 40 per cent leaf area

4 - Covering up to 40 percent leaf area

5 - Complete drying of the leaves or breakingof the leaves from center.

Per cent Disease Index (PDI) was calculated byusing the following formula (Wheeler, 1969).

Economic Analysis

The B:C ratio was worked out by calculating theincome and the additional cost of application offungicides and other costs based on market priceof inputs.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Foliar Blight Disease

During first year of experimentation (2009-10),the lowest PDI of 5.90 was recorded intebuconazole sprayed plots followed bypropiconazole(16.62) and azoxystrobin (16.68).The highest PDI of 52.58 was recorded in controlplot. With regard to other fungicides the PDIrecorded was in the range of 26.70 to 31.70. Insecond and third year also, the highest PDI wasrecorded in control plot (58.37 and 40.93) andthe lowest was recorded with tebuconazole (6.00and 6.28 ) followed by propiconazole (18.05 and19.30) and azoxystrobin (11.78 and 12.76)(table1).

The mean data of three years in terms of PDIindicated that the lowest PDI of 6.06 intebuconazole treated plots and was significantlysuperior to all other treatments in reducing thedisease severity. This was followed bypropiconazole (15.48) and azoxystrobin (16.24).The highest PDI was recorded in control plot(50.62). Based on the results achieved, thefungicides viz., tebuconazole, propiconazole,azoxystrobin, chlorothalonil, captan and benomylmay be adjusted best in order of their efficacy inmanaging foliar blight of chrysanthemum.

Flower Yield

In the first year, the flower yield was recorded inthe range of 37.35 to 78.42 q/ha. The highest

Sum of mumerical ratings 100PDI = ×

Total number of leaves examined Maximum grade value

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Management of foliar blight (Alternaria chrysanthemi Simmons & crosier) of chrysanthemum

Table 1: Effect of different fungicides on alternaria blight disease of chrysanthemum.

Treatments Percent Disease Index (PDI)

2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 Mean

Chlorothalonil (0.2%) 26.70(31.11) 28.30(32.13) 24.97(29.98) 26.66(31.08)

Captan (0.2%) 29.38(32.82) 31.38(34.06) 26.87(31.22) 29.21(32.71)

Azoxystrobin (0.075%) 16.68(24.10) 19.30(26.06) 12.76(20.92) 16.24(23.76)

Propiconazole (0.1%) 16.62(24.05) 18.05(25.14) 11.78(20.07) 15.48(23.16)

Tebuconazole (0.1%) 5.90(14.05) 6.00(14.17) 6.28(14.51) 6.06(14.25)

Benomyl (0.1%) 31.70(34.26) 31.94(34.41) 29.67(33.00) 31.10(33.89)

Control 52.58(46.47) 58.37(49.81) 40.93(39.77) 50.62(45.35)

SEm+ 0.51 0.58 0.37 1.03

CD at 5% 1.52 1.72 1.09 3.06

(Figures in parentheses are angular transformed values)

Table 2: Effect of different fungicides on flower yield of chrysanthemum

Treatments Flower yield (q/ha)

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Mean

Chlorothalonil (0.2%) 50.75 48.40 49.47 49.54

Captan (0.2%) 52.36 43.55 40.34 47.41

Azoxystrobin (0.075%) 69.78 54.95 50.22 58.32

Propiconazole (0.1%) 67.29 57.32 54.08 59.56

Tebuconazole (0.1%) 78.42 71.80 70.26 73.49

Benomyl (0.1%) 48.64 39.68 44.97 44.43

Control 37.35 31.09 30.78 33.07

SEm+ 0.68 0.91 0.76 1.86

CD at 5% 2.01 2.69 2.25 5.49

Table 3: Economic analysis of management of Alternaria leaf blight of chrysanthemum

Treatments PDI Yield (q/ha) B:C ratio

Chlorothalonil (0.2%) 26.66(31.08) 49.52 3.44

Captan (0.2%) 29.21(32.71) 45.41 3.56

Azoxystrobin (0.075%) 16.24(23.76) 58.32 4.19

Propiconazole (0.1%) 15.48(23.16) 59.56 4.56

Tebuconazole (0.1%) 6.06(14.25) 73.49 5.55

Benomyl (0.1%) 31.10(33.89) 44.43 3.41

Control 50.62(45.35) 33.07 2.64

flower yield was recored in tebuconazole (78.42q/ha) treated plot and lowest was in control plot(37.35 q/ha). During second year and third yearalso tebuconazole gave the highest flower yield(71.80 and 70.26 q/ha) with lowest PDI. Thepooled data of three years revealed that

tebuconazole was effective in increasing floweryield (73.49 q/ha) by reducing the foliar blightdisease (6.06 PDI). (table 1 and 2).

The economic analysis (table 3) revealed thattebuconazole recorded highest B:C ratio (5.55)

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M. Kavitha, B. Srinivasulu, M.L.N. Reddy and K. Swarajyalakshmi

with lowest PDI (6.06) and highest flower yield(73.49q/ha) followed by propiconazole andazoxystrobin (4.56 and 4.19 B:C ratio,respectively).

Based on the observations made during threeyears, foliar blight of chrysanthemum causedby Alternaria chrysanthemi can be effectivelycontrolled by tebucanazole which was recordedlowest PDI and highest flower yield. followedby propiconazole and azoxystrobin compared tothe other fungicides. These results were inagreement with the findings of Mesta et al. (2003)who reported that the triazole fungicides are theeffective fungicides against Alternarialeaf blights. Villanueva-couoh et al. (2005)reported that treatment of chrysanthemum withazoxystrobin reduced the epidemiologicalintensity of the disease by 50% and showed thelowest level of apparent infection. Anonymus(1998) reported that propiconazole 25EC (0.1%)was found to be effective against Alternariablight in sunflower. Kumar et al. (2008) revealedthat propiconazole and hexaconazole fungicidescompletely inhibited the mycelial growth ofAlternaria alternata causing leaf blight inchrysanthemum under laboratory conditions.Kamanna et al. (2010) opined that three spraysof chlorothalonil (0.2%) at an interval of 15 daysstarting from the onset of disease symptoms caneffectively control the leaf blight ofchrysanthemum caused by Alternaria alternata.Based on the results, it was concluded thattebuconazole was more effective in controllingfoliar blight in chrysanthemum.

REFERENCES

Anonymous. 1998. Annual Progress Report of Sunflower1997-1998. Directorate of oil Seeds research,Hyderabad, 58-61.

Anonymous. 2007. Package of practices for horticulturecrops. University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad,510.

Kumar, A. 2008. Studies on leaf blight of chrysanthemumcaused by Alternaria alternate (Fr.) Keissler.M.Sc.(Ag.) Thesis, University of AgriculturalSciences, Dharwad, India.

Kumar, A.G.S., Kamanna, B.C. and Benagi, V.I. 2011.Management of chrysanthemum leaf blight causedby Alternaria alternata (FR.) KEISSLER under fieldcondition. Recent archives, 11(1): 553-555.

Kamanna, B.C., Shankarappal, T.H. and Kumar, A.G.S.2010. Evaluation of fungicides for the managementof chrysanthemum leaf blight caused by alternatealternata (FR.) Keissler. Plant Archives, 10(2): 595-597.

Mesta, R.K. 2006. Epidemiology and management ofalternaria blight of sunflower caused by Alternariahelianthi (Hansf). Tubaki and Nishihara. Ph.D.Thesis, Univ. Agric. Sci., Dharwad, India.

Mesta, R.K., Sunkad, G. and Katti, P. 2003. Chemicalcontrol of alternaria blight of sunflower. ExtendedSummaries of National Seminar on StressManagement in Oil seeds for attaining self reliancein vegetable oils, January 28-30, held at DOR,Hyderabad, 149-151.

Simmons, E.G. 1965 Alternaria chrysanthemi. Mycologia,57: 140-143.

Villanueva-couoh, E. Sanchez-Briceno, M.de. Cristobal-Alejo, L.A., Ruiz-Sanchez, J. and Tun-Suarez,J.M.E. 2005. Diagnostic and alternatives forchemical management of foliar Blight (Alternariachrysanthemi Simmons and Crosier) ofchrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifoliumRamat). kitamura in Yucatan,Mexico. (Spanish).Revista Mexicana de Fitopatoologia. 2005, 23(1):49-56..

Wheeler, B.E.J.1969. An introduction to plant diseases.John Wiley and sons Ltd.,London.

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Integrated Nutrient Management on Gladiolus under Eastern ghat conditionJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 15-18, 2013

Integrated Nutrient Management ingladiolus under Eastern ghat conditions

N. MAGESWARI1, R. ARULMOZHIYAN1*, A. SANKARI1, M. ANAND1 and D. DURGA DEVI2

1Horticultural Research Station, Yercaud-6366022Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,

Coimbatore–641003 (Tamil Nadu)*E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of Integrated Nutrient Management in gladioluscv. Novalux at Horticultural Research Station, Yercaud during 2011-12. The organic manures likeFYM, vermicompost, azospirillum, phosphobacteria and inorganic nutrients like nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium were used for this study. The treatment combination of T16 - 50%RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300g/m2) + Azospirillum (2g/plant) + PSB (2g/plant) was found best for vegetative characters like plant height (59.30 cm), flowering charactersviz., length of spike (83.43 cm), length of rachis (55.60 cm), weight of spike (61.27 g), number offlorets per spike (18.13) and number of florets remain open at a time (4.67) and vase life.

Key words: Gladiolus, fertilizers, vase life.

INTRODUCTION

Among the bulbous crops, gladiolus (Family:Iridaceae) is an important cut flower crop. Itsfascinating spikes bear a large number of florets,which exhibit varying size and forms, markingsof various colours and colour combinations.Nutrition is one of the important aspect inincreasing the yield and quality of gladiolusspikes. It is a heavy feeder of nutrients owingto its shallow root system. Bio-fertilizers areeco-friendly source of nutrients. They fix theatmospheric nitrogen, increase the solubility offixed soil phosphate and also improves plantgrowth by producing phytohormones. Although,bio-fertilizers are not a substitute for chemicalfertilizers, they are useful in increasing the yield,when they are combined with organic manuresand inorganic nutrients in balanced proportion.

The experiment was attempted to study theeffect of integrated use of chemical fertilizersand bio-fertilizers on growth, flowering andcorm production in Gladiolus.


The study was conducted at HorticulturalResearch station, Yercaud during 2011-12. Theexperiment was laid out in a Randomized BlockDesign (RBD) with seventeen treatments andthree replications. The treatment combinationsviz. T1 - 125% of RDF* + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year),T2- 125% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year)+Vermicompost (300 g/m2), T3 - 125% of RDF+ FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant), T4 - 125% ofRDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost

*(60:150:150)

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Nikhil Dileep Narkar, V.L. Sheela, Vikram R. Hutke and Darshan S. Kadam

Number of well filled and uniformly

stained pollen grainsPollen fertility x 100

Total number of pollen grains=


The largest pollen diameter was recorded incultivar Heliconia collinsiana × Heliconiabourgaeana cv. Pedro Ortiz with mean value82.53 µm, which was on par with Heliconiastricta cv. Dorado Gold (81.15 µm), Heliconiastricta cv. Iris (80.33 µm), Heliconiawagneriana cv. Red (80.13 µm). Lowest pollendiameter was recorded in cultivar T7 Heliconiapsittacorum × Heliconia spathocircinata cv.Keanae Red with mean value 39.13 µm, whichwas on par with Heliconia psittacorum cv.Andromeda (47.07 µm), Heliconia psittacorum× Heliconia spathocircinata cv. Alan Carle(48.50 µm) and Heliconia psittacorum cv. Lena(49.65 µm).

Highest fertility was recorded in cultivar T8Heliconia psittacorum cv. Lena i.e. 100%, whichwas on par with Heliconia rostrata (99.50%),Heliconia psittacorum cv. Pascal (98.00%),Heliconia psittacorum cv. Andromeda (98.00%),Heliconia psittacorum cv. St. Vincent Red(98.25%) and Heliconia stricta cv. Iris (98.00%).Lowest fertility percentage was recorded inHeliconia psittacorum × Heliconia spatho-circinata cv. Keanae Red i.e.15.25 %, whichwas on par with Heliconia psittacorum xHeliconia spathocircinata cv. Tropics (16.75%).

Understanding pollen biology and assessmentof pollen viability is critical for monitoringpollen vigour during storage, gene bankmaintenance, incompatibility and fertility studiesand evaluation of pollen germination afterexposure to certain conditions. In the presentstudy the largest pollen diameter was recordedin Heliconia collinsiana × Heliconiabourgaeana cv. Pedro Ortiz and lowest pollen

diameter was recorded in Heliconia psittacorum× Heliconia spathocircinata cv. Keanae Red.

It was observed that cultivars Golden torch;Guyana, deRooij and Alan Carle which areinterspecific hybrids produce round shape pollenof different size but Psittacorum cultivars likeLena, Pascal and Strawberry produced perfectspheroid shape and uniform sized pollen. Petraand Sassy produced mix type of pollen havingoval and round shape. Lady Di and Andromedaproduced pollen which is irregular in shape. St.Vincent Red produced slightly oval shapepollen. These results were in agreement withthe report of Kress and Stone (1983). Theyobserved large, variable shaped pollen grains inHeliconia stricta.

Cultivar Sexy Pink and Heliconia rostrataproduced round and uniform size pollen.Heliconia wagneriana cv. Red producedspherical shape pollen with different size,whereas Heliconia wagneriana cv. Yellowproduced typical pollen shape with a spine likeprotuberance at one end. Heliconia angusta cv.Christmas Red produced round shape pollen ofdifferent size. Stricta species produced mixedtyped of pollen showing shapes ranging fromirregular to circular. Higher proportion of normalpollen grains indicate higher degrees ofchromosome homology

Self and cross compatibility problems wasreported in heliconia which hinders the seedproduction of various varieties by selfing orcrossing (Lee et al., 1994). In agreement withthe above observation in the present study thepollen fertility ranges from 33-100%. Highestfertility percentage was recorded in Heliconiapsittacorum cv. Lena (100%). Lowest fertilitypercentage was recorded in Heliconiapsittacorum x Heliconia spathocircinata cv.Keanae Red. In hybrid plants differences in

7

Pollen studies in heliconia (Heliconia spp)

Table 1: Means value of pollen size (µm) and pollen fertility (%)

Accession Average pollen Pollen fertilitysize in (µm) (%)

T1 Heliconia psittacorum x Heliconia spathocircinata cv. Golden Torch 50.28 35.75T2 Heliconia psittacorum x Heliconia spathocircinata cv. Guyana 51.70 39.75T3 Heliconia psittacorum cv. Parakeet 54.35 92.75T4 Heliconia latispatha 64.05 53.75T5 Heliconia psittacorum x Heliconia marginata cv. deRooij 65.74 49.50T6 Heliconia psittacorum cv. Petra 66.33 96.50T7 Heliconia psittacorum x Heliconia spathocircinata cv. Keanae Red 39.13 15.25T8 Heliconia psittacorum cv. Lena 49.65 100.00T9 Heliconia psittacorum x Heliconia spathocircinata cv. Tropics 74.70 16.75T10 Heliconia psittacorum x Heliconia spathocircinata cv. Alan Carle 48.50 33.00T11 Heliconia psittacorum. cv. Lady Di 65.18 81.25T12 Heliconia rostrata 65.73 99.50T13 Heliconia wagneriana cv. Red 80.13 73.75T14 Heliconia angusta cv. Christmas Red 65.98 40.00T15 Heliconia wagneriana cv. Yellow 79.50 62.50T16 Heliconia chartacea cv. Sexy Pink 69.10 84.75T17 Heliconia latispatha cv. Orange gyro 50.15 53.00T18 Heliconia psittacorum cv. Pascal 63.90 98.00T19 Heliconia caribaea x Heliconia bihai cv.Jacquinii 70.95 50.00T20 Heliconia collinsiana x Heliconia bourgaeana cv. Pedro Ortiz 82.53 65.50T21 Heliconia sunrise 71.93 45.00T22 Heliconia mathiasiae 64.95 63.50T23 Heliconia stricta cv. Dorado Gold 81.15 80.00T24 Heliconia densiflora Verlot cv. Fire Flash 63.23 63.50T25 Heliconia psittacorum cv. Strawberries 63.43 63.50T26 Heliconia psittacorum cv. Andromeda 47.07 98.00T27 Heliconia psittacorum cv. Sassy 79.70 85.75T28 Heliconia psittacorum cv. St. Vincent Red 70.45 98.25T29 Heliconia stricta cv. Iris 80.33 98.00T30 Heliconia lingulata cv. Fan 66.20 34.75

CD (0.05) 13.07 3.54

pollen production vary with the geneticconstitution. Fluctuation in the percentages ofgood and bad pollen in pure species is probablynot influenced by external factors but by thephysiological adjustments made to floweringand senescence.

Interpsecific hybrids of Psittacorum speciesrecorded lowest percentage for fertility whereasPsittacorum species recorded highest percentageof fertility. This shows that sterility of pollenmight be one reason for poor seed set in some

varieties. Similar results were reported by Sheelaet al. (2005) and Sanjeev (2005). From thepresent study it is evident that considerablevariability exists among the different Heliconiasstudied regarding pollen characteristics. Hencesuitable cultivars should be selected with cautionconsidering their compatibility and fertilitycharacteristics for utilizing for further breedingprogrammes.

Mean pollen diameter values of 30 selectedspecies and cultivars are presented in Table 1.

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Nikhil Dileep Narkar, V.L. Sheela, Vikram R. Hutke and Darshan S. Kadam

Top row: - Golden Torch, Guyana, Parakeet, LatispathaBottom row: - deRooij, Petra, Keanae Red, Lena

Top row: - Tropics, Alan Carle, Lady Di, RostrataBottom row: -Wagneriana Red, Christmas Red, Wagneriana Yellow, Sexy Pink

Top row: - Orange gyro, Pascal, Jacquinii, Pedro OrtizBottom row: - Sunrise, Mathiasiae, Dorado Gold, Fire Flash

9

Pollen studies in heliconia (Heliconia spp)

Top row: - Strawberries, Andromeda, SassyBottom row: - St. Vincent Red, Iris, Lingulata

Note: All Photographs are taken at 40x zoom.

REFERENCES

Kress, W.J. and Stone, D. 1983. Morphology andphylogenetic significance of exine-less pollen ofheliconia (Heliconiaceae). Systematic Botony, 8(2):149-167.

Lee, Y.H., Ng, N.Y. and Goh, C.J. 1994. Pollen formationand fruit set in some cultivars of Heliconiapsittacorum. Scientific Horticulture, 60: 167-172.

Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1967. StatisticalMethods for Agricultural workers. 2nd Edition, Indian

council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. 381.

Sanjeev, S.J. 2005. Floral biology and compatibilitystudies in heliconia. M.Sc (Hort.) Thesis, KeralaAgriculture University, Thrissur, 107.

Sheela V.L., Rakhi, R., Nair, C.S.J. and George, T.S.2005. Genetic Variability in heliconia. Journal ofOrnamental Horticulture, 8(4): 284-286.

Smitha, B. 2005. Evaluation, molecular characterisationand in vitro propagation of heliconia. Ph.D. (Hort)thesis, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, 130-152.

10

P. Ranchana, M. Kannan and M. JawaharlalJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 10-14, 2013

Evaluation of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) genotypes(Double) for yield and genetic variability

P. RANCHANA, M. KANNAN and M. JAWAHARLAL

Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Horticultural College and Research Institute Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – 641003

E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

An experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications to evaluatethe performance of five tuberose genotypes viz., Calcutta Double, Hyderabad Double, Pearl Double,Suvasini and Vaibhav under tropical conditions during 2011-2012. Results revealed that Suvasinishowed its superiority for days taken for sprouting of bulbs, plant height, number of leaves perplant, flowering duration, spike length, number of florets per spike, length of the floret, weight offlorets per spike, number of spikes per m2 and yield of florets/ plot. The parameters viz., numberof florets per spike recorded high phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation. High heritabilitycoupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was observed for number of florets perspike, number of spikes per m2, rachis length, yield of florets/ plot, spike length, flowering duration,days taken for sprouting and plant height.

Key words: Tuberose, double types, variability, heritability, genetic advance

INTRODUCTION

Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) is one of themost important cut flower. It is an ornamentalbulbous plant, native of Mexico and belongs tothe family amaryllidaceae. Ornamental plantshave prime importance in maintainingecological balance and checking pollution insurroundings. About 45% of world trade infloriculture products is in cut flowers. Waxywhite flowering spikes of single as well asdouble types of tuberose impregnate theatmosphere with their sweet fragrance andbecause of longer keeping quality of flowerspikes (Sadhu and Bose, 1973; Benschop, 1993)They are in great demand for making floralarrangement and bouquets in major cities ofIndia. It is widely grown as specimen forexhibition and cut flower. It is cultivated on a

large scale in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, WestBengal and Maharastra. To a lesser extent it isalso grown in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi,Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The flowers are nowbeing used for the extraction of the valuablenatural aromatic oil much needed for the highcost perfume industry. Its essential oil isexported at an attractive price to France, Italyand other countries (Sadhu and Bose, 1973), aslong as there is no synthetic flavour to replaceits fragrance. However, there are only two types(Single and Double) cultivated around theworld. There are only a few varieties and hybridsof tuberose being under cultivation viz., CalcuttaSingle, Calcutta Double, Hyderabad Single,Hyderabad Double, Kahikuchi Single, MexicanSingle, Navsari Local, Pearl Double, PhuleRajani, Prajwal, Pune Single, Shringar, Suvasini,

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Evaluation of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) genotypes (Double) for yield and genetic variability

Vaibhav and Variegated Single. As thecommercial cultivation of tuberose is gainingimportance, introduction and identification ofhigh yielding varieties of tuberose is necessary.Varieties which perform well in one region maynot do well in other regions of varying climaticconditions (Kamble et al., 2004). Hence, itbecomes necessary to study the morphologicalvariation and evaluation of genotypes and alsoto identify the suitable germplasm for furtherimprovement programme in Coimbatore region.For a sound breeding programme, criticalassessment of the nature and extent of geneticvariability available in the germplasm, herita-bility and genetic advance of the important yieldcontributing characters in a crop species isessential (Nazir and Dwivedi, 2006). Hence, thepresent investigation was conducted to study therelative performance of the ten genotypes andthe variability present among them.


The present study was carried out at Botanicalgardens, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,Coimbatore during the year 2011-2013. It issituated at 11° 02" N latitude, 76° 57" Elongitude and 426.76 m above mean sea level.Experimental material consists of ten genotypesof tuberose viz., Calcutta Double, HyderabadDouble, Pearl Double, Suvasini and Vaibhav.The experiment was laid out in randomizedblock design (RBD) with three replications. Thesoil was brought to a fine tilth by giving fourdeep ploughings. Weeds, stubbles, roots etc.,were removed. At the time of last ploughing,FYM was applied at the rate of 25 t ha–1. Afterlevelling, raised beds of 1.5×1.5 m were formedand the medium sized bulbs of (3.0 – 3.5 cm)diameter of about 25 grams were planted witha spacing of 45×30 m accommodating7 plants per m2. Uniform cultural practices werefollowed throughout the experimentation. The

data were recorded on five plants from eachgenotype in each replication for 13 charactersviz., days taken for sprouting (days), bulb weight(g), number of bulblets/clump, weight ofbulblets/ clump (g), plant height (cm), numberof leaves per clump, days to spike emergence,flowering duration, spike length (cm), rachislength (cm), number of florets /spike, length ofthe floret, weight of the florets/spike, numberof spikes/m2, yield of florets/ plot.


Vegetative Characteristics

Mean performance of cultivars for vegetativegrowth (Table 1) reflected the variation amongthe cultivars. Significantly less number of dayswere taken for sprouting of bulbs (12.32) in‘Suvasini’, followed by ‘Vaibhav’ (12.67) andmore number of days was taken by ‘PearlDouble’ (14.62). Maximum plant height (86.25cm) was noticed in ‘Suvasini’. This is inaccordance with the results of Gudi (2006).Suvasini produced maximum number of leavesper plant (270) followed by Vaibhav (250), whileminimum number of leaves was recorded inHyderabad Double (235). The differences amongthe varieties for vegetative characters wereattributed to their variation in their geneticmakeup (Swaroop, 2010). The weight of thebulb was recorded maximum with Vaibhav(396.42 g) followed by Suvasini (340.85 g). Themaximum weight of the bulb might be due tobalanced partitioning of dry matter betweenfloral starts and the storage organs. The cultivarsdiffered significantly with respect to number andweight of bulblets produced per plant. Vaibhav(35.16) was found superior in producing morenumber of bulblets per dumb followed byHyderabad Double (33.28) and it was least inPearl Double (14.53). The variation in thenumber of bulblets produced per plant might be

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P. Ranchana, M. Kannan and M. Jawaharlal

Table 2: Performance of tuberose genotypes (double) for floral and yield parameters

Sl. Geno Days to Flower- Spike Rachis Number Length Weight of Number Yield ofNo. types spike ing length length of florets of the florets of spikes florets

emer- duration (cm) (cm) /spike floret per /m2 /plotgence (days) (cm) spike (g) (2* 2 m)

(kg)

1. Calcutta 88.00 10.48 58.92 38.75 35.00 7.10 112.36 32.00 2.57Double

2. Hyderabad 89.00 9.12 53.87 33.95 34.00 6.70 108.56 21.01 2.48Double

3. Pearl 86.00 10.39 54.70 42.67 30.00 7.40 109.32 31.50 2.42Double

4. Suvasini 84.00 12.40 71.25 44.00 54.00 7.50 146.88 34.10 3.42

5. Vaibhav 85.00 11.43 66.38 54.00 44.00 7.20 119.24 33.75 2.96

Sed 0.28 1.57 1.08 1.02 0.19 3.07 0.78 0.07

CD (0.05) 0.64 3.62 2.49 2.34 0.43 7.08 1.80 0.16

Table1: Performance of tuberose genotypes (double) for vegetative growth and bulb production

Sl. Genotypes Days taken Bulb Number of Weight of Plant No. ofNo. for sprouting weight bulblets/ bulblets/ height leaves

of bulb (g) clump clump per plant

1. Calcutta Double 13.25 330.12 30.84 98.45 73.92 246.00

2. Hyderabad Double 16.15 320.62 33.28 110.73 68.87 235.00

3. Pearl Double 14.62 324.25 14.53 80.37 69.70 238.00

4. Suvasini 12.32 332.86 32.15 122.85 86.25 270.00

5. Vaibhav 12.67 396.42 35.16 145.82 81.38 250.00

Sed 0.377 8.88 3.21 21.43 1.96 6.45

CD (0.05) 0.87 20.47 6.64 42.89 4.53 14.88

due to its intrinsic factor and the results are inconsonance with the findings of Ramachandruduand Thangam (2009) in tuberose. The weightof bulblets was more in Vaibhav (145.82)followed by Suvasini (122.85) and it wasminimum in Pearl Double (80.37). The relativehigher growth of Vaibhav may be the probablereason for getting increased weight of bulblets.

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS

Minimum days to spike emergence was noticedin Suvasini (84) and it was maximum inHyderabad Double (89). The duration offlowering was significantly high in Suvasini(12.40 days) followed by Vaibhav (11.43 days).

This was in line with the findings of Patil et al.(2009) in tuberose. Suvasini produced spikewith maximum length of 71.25 cm followed byVaibhav (66.38 cm) and it was minimum inHyderabad Double (53.87 cm). The variationin spike length in different cultivars might bedue to variation in their intrinsic factor. Suvasinishowed its superiority for number of florets/spike (54.00) followed by Vaibhav (44) and itwas minimum in Hyderabad Double (30). Theincreased floret length registered by Suvasini(7.50) and it was the lowest in HyderabadDouble (6.70). This finding is in accordancewith Patil et al. (2009). Weight of florets/ spikewas maximum in Prajwal (74.80) which is

13

Evaluation of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) genotypes (Double) for yield and genetic variability

Table 3: Estimates of variability and genetic parameters for flower yield and its components

Sl. Characters GCV PCV HERT GANo. (%) OF MEAN

1 Days taken for sprouting of bulb 11.27 11.76 91.91 22.26

2 Bulb weight 9.04 9.58 88.92 17.55

3 Number of bulblets/ clump 8.53 8.87 87.34 15.34

4 Weight of bulblets/ clump 6.86 6.97 85.13 12.42

5 Plant height 9.78 10.28 90.52 19.17

6 Number of leaves per plant 5.25 6.14 73.06 9.25

7 Days to spike emergence 1.49 3.58 17.38 1.28

8 Flowering duration 11.28 11.71 92.83 22.39

9 Spike length 12.26 12.66 93.79 24.46

10 Rachis length 17.35 17.62 96.91 35.18

11 Number of florets/ spike 24.38 24.59 98.35 49.81

12 Length of the floret 3.93 5.04 60.68 6.30

13 Weight of florets per spike 13.29 13.66 94.67 26.64

14 Number of spikes/ m2 17.64 17.92 96.93 35.78

15 Yield of florets/ plot 14.98 15.31 95.78 30.20

followed by Shringar (51.48). This might be dueto the increased number of florets/ spike. Theincreased number of spikes/ m2 and yield offlorets/ plot (2 × 2 m) recorded in Suvasini(34.10 and 3.42). The increased yield might bedue to its capacity to produce more number offlorets per spike, more floret length and weightof florets/spike (Table 2).

VARIABILITY, HERITABILITY ANDGENETIC ADVANCE

Variability in the population is a prerequisiteespecially for characters where improvement isrequired. Success of plant breeding programmeslargely depend on the amount of geneticvariability present in a given crop species forthe character under improvement. GenerallyPCV’s were higher than the correspondingGCV’s for all the attributes under study,indicating that traits interacted with environment(Table 3). Similar results were reported byGurav et al. (2005) in tuberose. The estimatesof phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of

variation were high in case of number of florets/spike. This highlighted the presence of highgenetic variation in respect of these attributes.Similar results were reported by Sheikh andJohn (2005) in Iris. Moderate estimates ofvariation were recorded for number of spikes/m2, rachis length, yield of florets/ plot, weightof florets/ spike, spike length, flowering durationand days taken for sprouting of bulbs. Theresults were in conformity with the findings ofGangadharappa et al. (2008) in tuberose. Lowestimates of PCV and GCV were recorded forplant height, weight of bulb, number of bulblets/clump, weight of bulblets/ clump, number ofleaves per plant, length of the floret and daystaken for spike emergence. This was inaccordance with the findings of Vijayalaxmi etal., 2010 in single type tuberose for plant heightand number of leaves/plant.

Heritability which measures the extent to whichvariability is transferred from one generation toanother ranged from 98.35 % for number offlorets per spike to 17.38 % for days taken for

14

P. Ranchana, M. Kannan and M. Jawaharlal

spike emergence. The results reveal very highvalues of heritability for all characters understudy, indicating that the transfer of variabilityfrom one generation to other was very high intuberose. The results were in accordance withfindings of Gurav et al. (2005) in tuberose andNazir and Dwivedi (2006) in gladiolus.

High heritability coupled with high geneticadvance as percent of mean was observed fornumber of florets per spike, number of spikes/m2, rachis length and yield of florets per plot.It is evident from the results of the present studythat these traits are controlled by additive typeof gene action. Therefore, response to selectioncould be anticipated in improving the yield.High heritability coupled with moderate geneticadvance as percent of mean was observed forof weight of florets per spike, spike length,flowering duration and days taken for sproutingof bulb suggesting the presence of both additiveand non-additive gene actions, and simpleselection offers best possibility of improvementof this trait.

The estimate of heritability was high with lowgenetic advance as percentage of mean for plantheight, bulb weight, number of bulblets perclump, weight of bulblets per clump, plantheight, length of the floret and days taken forspike emergence which indicated that highheritability were due to non-additive gene effectsand influence of environment. Hence, there is alimited scope for selection. Sheikh and John(2005) have reported similar results in Iris.

REFERENCES

Benschop, M. 1993. Polianthes. In: De Hertogh, A., LeNard, M. (Eds.), the physiology of flower bulbs.Elsevier., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 589-601.

Gangadharappa, R.C.P.M., Gopal Krishna, G. andJagadeesha, R.C. 2008. Genetic correlation, heritabilityand genetic advance for yield and its componentsin tuberose. Crop Improvement, 35(1): 95-98.

Gudi, G. 2006. Evaluation of tuberose varieties. Thesissubmitted to University of Agricultural Sciences,Dharwad, Karnataka.

Gurav, S.B., Katwate, S.M., Singh, B.R., Kahade, D.S.,Dhane, A.V. and Sabale, R.N. 2005. Quantitativegenetic studies in tuberose. Journal of OrnamentalHorticulture, 8(2): 124-127.

Kamble, B.S., Reddy, B.S., Patil, R.T. and Kulkarni, B.S.2004. Performance of gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridusHort.) cultivars for flowering and flower quality.Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, 7(3-4): 51-60.

Nazir, M. and Dwivedi, V.K. 2006. Genetic variabilitystudies in gladiolus. Journal of Asian Horticulture,2(4): 235-238.

Patil, V.S, Munikrishnappa, P.M. and Tirakannanavar, S.2009. Performance of growth and yield of differentgenotypes of tuberose under transitional tract of northKarnataka. Journal of Ecobiology, 24(4): 327-333.

Ramachandrudu, K. and Thangam, M. 2009. Performanceof tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) cultivars in Goa.Journal of Horticultural Sciences, 4(1): 76-77.

Sadhu, M.R. and Bose, T.K. 1973. Tuberose for mostartistic garlands. Indian Horticulture, 18(3): 17-20.

Sheikh, M.Q. and John, A.Q. 2005. Genetic variabilityin Iris (Iris japonica Thumb.). Journal ofOrnamental Horticulture, 8(1): 75-76.

Swaroop, K. 2010. Morphological variation andevaluation of gladiolus germplasm. Indian Journalof Agricultural Sciences, 80(8): 742-745.

Vijayalaxmi, M., Manohar Rao, A., Padmavatamma, A.S.and Siva Shanker, A. 2010. Evaluation andvariability studies in tuberose (Polianthes tuberosaL.) single cultivars. Journal of OrnamentalHorticulture, 13(4): 251-256.

15

Integrated Nutrient Management on Gladiolus under Eastern ghat conditionJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 15-18, 2013

Integrated Nutrient Management ingladiolus under Eastern ghat conditions

N. MAGESWARI1, R. ARULMOZHIYAN1*, A. SANKARI1, M. ANAND1 and D. DURGA DEVI2

1Horticultural Research Station, Yercaud-6366022Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,

Coimbatore–641003 (Tamil Nadu)*E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of Integrated Nutrient Management in gladioluscv. Novalux at Horticultural Research Station, Yercaud during 2011-12. The organic manures likeFYM, vermicompost, azospirillum, phosphobacteria and inorganic nutrients like nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium were used for this study. The treatment combination of T16 - 50%RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300g/m2) + Azospirillum (2g/plant) + PSB (2g/plant) was found best for vegetative characters like plant height (59.30 cm), flowering charactersviz., length of spike (83.43 cm), length of rachis (55.60 cm), weight of spike (61.27 g), number offlorets per spike (18.13) and number of florets remain open at a time (4.67) and vase life.

Key words: Gladiolus, fertilizers, vase life.

INTRODUCTION

Among the bulbous crops, gladiolus (Family:Iridaceae) is an important cut flower crop. Itsfascinating spikes bear a large number of florets,which exhibit varying size and forms, markingsof various colours and colour combinations.Nutrition is one of the important aspect inincreasing the yield and quality of gladiolusspikes. It is a heavy feeder of nutrients owingto its shallow root system. Bio-fertilizers areeco-friendly source of nutrients. They fix theatmospheric nitrogen, increase the solubility offixed soil phosphate and also improves plantgrowth by producing phytohormones. Although,bio-fertilizers are not a substitute for chemicalfertilizers, they are useful in increasing the yield,when they are combined with organic manuresand inorganic nutrients in balanced proportion.

The experiment was attempted to study theeffect of integrated use of chemical fertilizersand bio-fertilizers on growth, flowering andcorm production in Gladiolus.


The study was conducted at HorticulturalResearch station, Yercaud during 2011-12. Theexperiment was laid out in a Randomized BlockDesign (RBD) with seventeen treatments andthree replications. The treatment combinationsviz. T1 - 125% of RDF* + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year),T2- 125% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year)+Vermicompost (300 g/m2), T3 - 125% of RDF+ FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant), T4 - 125% ofRDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost

*(60:150:150)

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N. Mageswari, R. Arulmozhiyan, A. Sankari, M. Anand and D. Durga Devi

Table 1: Effect of integrated nutrient management on gladiolus production

Treatment Plant Spike Rachis Spike Spike Floret Floret Floret Number ofheight length length weight emergence Number length diameter florets(cm) (cm) (cm) (g) (d) (No.) (cm) (cm) open

at a time

T1 48.74 76.57 42.08 43.40 116.63 17.13 6.54 7.22 4.10

T2 50.53 76.19 48.60 44.47 114.67 17.40 6.30 7.50 4.10

T3 50.00 73.20 43.79 40.20 116.50 17.00 7.28 8.14 4.17

T4 47.28 79.52 50.46 53.13 111.80 16.80 6 .95 7.94 4.20

T5 46.52 77.48 49.59 47.17 97.10 17.40 6.76 7.67 3.80

T6 47.00 77.94 49.83 51.33 98.37 17.27 6.64 7.59 4.13

T7 41.48 75.16 46.49 57.27 115.00 16.60 6.80 7.77 3.80

T8 49.51 73.89 45.07 60.50 117.00 17.73 6.93 7.89 4.37

T9 49.34 74.57 46.33 41.13 106.00 16.53 6.88 7.87 4.10

T10 43.53 71.99 42.37 50.50 102.57 17.60 6.74 7.75 4.17

T11 45.56 74.85 45.47 45.67 112.00 16.87 7.60 8.21 4.30

T12 54.70 74.66 42.90 60.63 92.10 17.73 8.56 9.00 4.40

T 13 40.01 76.54 44.90 47.17 104.00 16.73 7.03 7.84 3.63

T 14 42.17 79.53 48.90 58.43 103.67 17.60 7.73 8.33 4.10

T 15 56.30 80.85 53.73 51.83 96.57 17.73 7.36 8.35 4.43

T 16 59.30 83.43 55.60 61.27 104.33 18.13 7.23 7.83 4.67

T 17 32.40 71.10 40.63 38.13 116.87 16.40 6.29 7.18 3.43

Mean 47.32 76.32 46.87 50.13 107.36 17.21 7.04 7.89 4.11

S Ed 0.62 3.29 2.90 3.81 3.12 0.64 0.35 0.30 0.24

C.D. 1.26 6.71 5.91 7.76 6.36 1.31 0.72 0.61 0.49(P=0.05)

(300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB(2 g/plant), T5 - 100% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year), T6 - 100% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2), T7 - 100%of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year)+ Vermicompost(300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant), T8 -100% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) +Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant), T9- 75% of RDF +FYM (2 Kg/m2/year), T10- 75% of RDF + FYM(2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2),T11- 75% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) +Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2g/plant), T12- 75% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) +Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant), T13-

50% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year), T14 - 50%of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year)+ Vermicompost(300 g/m2), T15 - 50% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) +Azospirillum (2 g/plant) and T16- 50% of RDF+ FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant) and T17 - Untreated control were triedout. The corms were planted in beds at a spacingof 30 × 20 cm. Observations were made in fiverandomly selected plants in each treatment forvegetative, floral and corm parameters.


Results obtained in the study revealed thatcombined application of chemical fertilizers and

17

Integrated Nutrient Management on Gladiolus under Eastern ghat condition

bio-fertilizers had a significant influence onvarious growth, flowering and corm parametersin gladiolus. The data presented in Table 1revealed that highest plant height (59.30 cm)was recorded with the application of 50% RDF+ FYM (2 kg/m2/year) + Vermicompost (300g/m2) + Azospirillum (2g/plant) + PSB (2g/plant)(T16). High nitrogen with appropriate dose ofphosphorus and potassium seemed to haveincreased vegetative growth as reported byDenisen (1982). The positive effect ofvermicompost on plant growth had been alreadyreported in China aster by Nethra et al. (1999)and in golden rod (Kusuma, 2001).

The highest spike length (83.43 cm) wasobserved in the same treatment (T16). The earlierand frequent foliar application of urea hadresulted in significant increased spike length(Marital et al., 2007). The effect was due to thefunction of nitrogen in the initiation ofmeristematic activity of the plant and thus thesize of the plant was larger, which is the measureof nitrogen metabolism (Crowther, 1935). Thismight also be due to the presence of calcium inCAN and sulphur in SSP which might haveparticipated in higher protein synthesis and thusimproved the vegetative growth, dry matteraccumulation and partitioning of nutrientstowards the developing spikes (Kumar andMisra, 2003). This treatment (T16) once againrecorded the highest length of rachis (55.60 cm)and maximum weight of spike (55.60 g) thanthe control (38.13 g). Beneficial effects of NPKon floral characters were reported by Pandey etal. (2000) and Dalve et al. (2009) in gladiolus.The photosynthetic system is activated forenhanced biological efficiency, enablingsynthesis of maximum metabolites and photo-synthates, thus encouraging quick growth, whichultimately leads to increased plant height, lengthof spike and length of rachis, number of florets

and average weight of corm. The results are inclose conformity with the findings of Bhalla etal. (2006), Barman et al., (2006) and Dubey andMisra (2005). The maximum number of floretsper spike (18.13) and number of florets remainopen at a time (4.67) was attained in T16.

Hence, it is concluded that the treatment T16(50% of RDF + FYM (2 Kg/m2/year) +Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant) was found to be goodwith respect to vegetative and floral characterscompared to other treatments and control.

REFERENCES

Bhalla, R., Kanwar, P., Dhiman, S.R. and Jain, R. 2006.Effect of biofertilizer and biostimulants on growthand flowering in gladiolus. Journal of OrnamentalHorticulture, 9(4): 248-252.

Barman, D., Rajni, K. and Upadhyaya, R.C. 2006. Effectof VAM on flower production and multiplication ofgladiolus cv. ‘Candyman’. In: Abstracts of “NationalSymposium on Ornamental Bulbous Crops”, heldat SVBPUA&T, Meerut from Dec. 5-6, 2006. 64.

Crowther, E.M. 1935. Comparative trials of calciumcynamide and other nitrogenous fertilizers on a rabicrop. Empire Journal of Experimental Agriculture,3: 129-143.

Denisen, E.L. 1982. Principles of Horticulture, MacmillanPublishers Company, New York, 409–412.

Dalve, P.D., Deshmukh, M., Dange, N.R. and Kawarkhe,V.J. 2009. Effect of biofertilizers with reduced dosesof nitrogen on growth and flowering of Gladiolus.International Journal of Agricultural Science, 5:258-60.

Dubey, R.K. and Misra, R.L. 2005. Response of chemicaland bio-fertilizers on corm and cormel productionin Gladiolus. Progressive Horticulture, 37(2): 412-418.

Kumar, R. and Misra, R.L. 2003. Response of Gladiolusto nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilization.Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, 6(2): 95-99.

Kusuma, G. 2001. Effect of organic and inorganicfertilizers on growth, yield and quality of Goldenrod. M.Sc. (Hort.) Thesis, University of AgriculturalSciences, Bangalore (India).

Marital J., Parmar, A.M., Singh, D.B., Misra, R. L. andBaloda, S. 2007. Effect of foliar application of urea

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N. Mageswari, R. Arulmozhiyan, A. Sankari, M. Anand and D. Durga Devi

on vegetative and floral growth of gladiolus.Haryana Journal of Horticultural Science, 36: 282-284.

Nethra, N.N., Jayaprasad, K.V. and Radha, D.K. 1999.China aster [Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees]cultivation using vermicompost as organic

amendment. Crop Research, 17: 209-215

Pandey, R.K., Rathore, P., Singh, M.K. and Rathore,R. 2000. Effect of different levels of nitrogenand phosphorus on gladiolus under Agracondition. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, 3:60-61.

19

Longevity of Jasminum sambac cv. Gundumalli flowers with reference to respiration and ethylene releaseJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 19-25, 2013

Longevity of Jasminum sambac cv. Gundumalli flowerswith reference to respiration and ethylene release

at different storage temperaturesP. MEKALA, N. KUMAR and M. JAWAHARLAL

Horticultural College and Research Institute,Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – 641 003

ABSTRACT

An investigation on longevity of Jasminum sambac cv. Gundumalli flowers with reference torespiration and ethylene release at different storage temperatures was carried out at Department ofFloriculture and Landscaping, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu AgriculturalUniversity, Coimbatore during 2011-12. Flowers were stored at different temperatures such as4°C, 8°C, 12°C, 16°C, 20°C, 24°C and ambient condition as control. The respiration and ethyleneproduction showed similar and temporal variation with an increase in temperature. Maximumproduction of 52.91 mg of CO2/ kg/hr and 164.80 µl C2H4/kg/hr was observed at 24 hours ofstorage under ambient condition while it took 8 days to reach the maximum (47.73 mg of CO2/kg/hr and 166.19 µl C2H4/kg/hr) at 8°C. The longevity of flowers was negatively related to theincrease in temperature from 4°C to 24°C and ambient storage. Maximum shelf life of 8 days wasregistered at 8°C and while a minimum of 1 day under ambient condition. The ideal storagetemperature for Jasminum sambac cv. Gundumalli flowers was found to be 8°C, when comparedto other storage temperatures and control.

Key words: Gundumalli, storage temperature, respiration, ethylene.

INTRODUCTION

Jasmine is one of the commercial loose flowercrops cultivated from time immemorial notedfor their cherished aromatic oils from its fragrantflowers. Gundumalli flowers are used formaking garlands, adorning hairs, concreteextraction and growing in home gardens. Theflower buds of Jasminum sambac are light inweight and compact at the time of harvest. Theflowers slowly start to unfurl are fully openwithin 24 hours of harvest and there after turnbrown with time. Flowers have a very limitedlife span after harvest and the survival on theirown reserves is generally low due to somespecial morphological and physiological

characters of the flower tissues. Refrigeratedstorage of the flowers is considered to beimportant as it prevent water loss, reducesrespiration, ethylene evolution; senescence andinfections caused by bacteria and fungi, andthereby extending the shelf life of the flowers.

The present investigation was carried out tooptimize the storage temperature, the respirationrate and ethylene release of jasmine flowers atdifferent storage temperatures.


Fresh jasmine flowers of 25 g were weighedand packed in the containers. The flower budswere stored at different temperatures such as

20

P. Mekala, N. Kumar and M. Jawaharlal

Flower weight : Weight of the flowerstaken for measuringrespiration 25 g

Enclosing time : Frequency of takingobservation (24 hoursi.e., 1440 min)

The ethylene concentration will be expressedas µl kg-1h-1

( ) ( )( ) ( )

1 1 2 2C H ppmx Container volume – Flower volume x 60 Ethylene µl kg h

Flower weight kg x Enclosing time min x 100− − =

% CO2 : Value observed fromthe gas analyser

Container volume : Total volume of thecontainer (570 ml)

Flower volume : Calculated throughdisplacement method(31 ml).

Flower weight : Weight of the flowerstaken for measuringrespiration 25 gEnclosing time :Frequency of takingobservation (24 hoursi.e., 1440 min)


Effect of different storage temperature onrespiration and ethylene release of J. sambaccv. Gundumalli flowers

J. sambac flowers stored at 4°C

When flowers were stored at 4°C, respirationlevel was 12.64 mg CO2/kg/hron the 1st day ofstorage while it was 49.52 mg CO2/kg/hr on 6th

day after storage. The ethylene release alsofollowed the similar trend with 16.67 µl C2H4/kg/hr on 1st day of storage and 165 µl C2H4/kg/hr at 6th day after storage (Fig. 1a).

4°C, 8°C, 12°C, 16°C, 20°C, 24°C along withthe ambient condition.The container was madeup of Poly Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) with570 ml of capacity and transparent nature formeasuring respiration rate and ethylene release.Top and bottom diameter were 7.5 cm and 6.5cm respectively and length of the container was15 cm. A single hole was made on the top ofthe lid. A silicon septum was pasted on the holeto draw gas for analysis. All the containers werecleaned and air leakage was tested using soapsolution before starting the experiment. Thecontainer lid was tightly sealed using Klin-filmtape for effective control of air leakage. Gassamples were drawn from the container throughthe silicon rubber septum using sensor of theethylene analyzer (for measuring ethylene) andgas analyzer (for measuring CO2) at an intervalof two hours under ambient condition and at 24hours interval for flowers stored at differenttemperatures until the flowers started towilt.symptoms. The pump flow rate of 0.8l/min for a response time of 40 seconds.Respiration rate and ethylene evolution werecalculated as per the following calculations.

The respiration rate was expressed in mgkg–1h–1

( )( ) ( )

( )2

1 1

% CO Container volume – Flower volume 60Respiration rate 2

Flower weight kg Enclosing time min 100mg kg h− −

× ×= ×

× ×

2 : Conversion factor (toconvert % to mg)

% CO2 : Value observed fromthe gas analyser

Container volume : Total volume of thecontainer (570 ml)

Flower volume : Calculated throughdisplacement method(31 ml)

21

Longevity of Jasminum sambac cv. Gundumalli flowers with reference to respiration and ethylene release

Fig. 1: Effect of different storage temperature on respiration andethylene release of J.sambac cv. Gundumalli flowers


Storage at 8°C the respiration rate was 13.12mgCO2/kg/hr and ethylene release was 17.37 µlC2H4/kg/hr on the 1st day after storage while it

was 47.73 mg CO2/kg/hr of respiration rate and166.19 µl C2H4/kg/hr of ethylene release.Respiration rate was gradually increasing till theend of the storage, ethylene release also followsthe similar trend (Fig. 1b).

22



Respiration rate and ethylene release was 16.23mg CO2/kg/hr and 34.94 µl C2H4/kg/hr on 1st

day after storage while it was 49.04 mg CO2/kg/hr and 168.51 µl C2H4/kg/hr respectivelyunder 12°C storage (Fig. 1c).


Flowers stored under 16°C recorded therespiration level of 34.44mg CO2/kg/hr andethylene release of 37.82 µl C2H4/kg/hr on 1st

day after storage and reaches the maximum levelof respiration of 52.46 mg CO2/kg/hr andethylene release of 157.05 µl C2H4/kg/hr. afterwhich the quality of the flower detoriates(Fig.1d).


After 1 day of storage under 20°C the respirationrate and ethylene release was 35.51 mg CO2/kg/hr and 96.36 µl C2H4/kg/hr respectively. Onthe 3rd day after storage, respiration rate andethylene release was 52.52 mg CO2/kg/hr and159.27 µl C2H4/kg/hr.


Flowers stored under 24°C, respiration rate was37.61 mg CO2/kg/hr and ethylene release was156.99 µl C2H4/kg/hr. On the 2nd day of storageit reaches the maximum level of 52.88 mg CO2/kg/hr of respiration rate and 156.99 µl C2H4/kg/hr of ethylene release (Fig.1e).

J. sambac flowers stored under ambientcondition

Under ambient storage, increase in the storagetemperature increases the respiration rate andalso ethylene production. During the 1st day ofstorage under ambient condition, the respirationrate was 52.91 mg CO2/kg/hrwhile it was 12.64mg CO2/kg/hrunder 4°C storage. Respirationrate under ambient condition was 5 fold higher

than flowers stored at 4°C. Similarly, ethylenerelease recorded 164.80 µl C2H4/kg/hr at 1st dayof storage while it was 16.47 µl C2H4/kg/hr at4°C. Ethylene release under ambient conditionwas 10 fold higher than flowers stored at 4°C(Fig.1f).

Jasmine flowers stored at the low temperature(8°C) recorded higher shelf life than the increasein temperature (8°C to 24°C and ambientstorage) because low temperature storagereduced the degradation of certain enzymes andethylene production, reduces respiration andvarious process related to growth andsenescence (Ashrace, 1994). Rate senescence offlowers was strongly influenced by thetemperature. The inverse correlation of thestorage temperature and the respiration areobserved in some of the commercial flowercrops viz., carnation and roses (Reid and Anton,1980), gerbera (Celikel and Reid, 2002a), roseand gypsophylla (Celikel and Reid, 2005), stock(Matthiola incana) by Celikel and Reid,(2002b), Narcissus tazetta cv. Paper white(Cevollos and Reid, 2000), tuberose (Kimaniet al., 2001).

According to Paull & Chen (2000), cell walldegrading enzymes and ethylene production arefrequently the most disrupted processes. Hightemperatures tend to disrupt physiologicalprocesses by thermal denaturation of enzymes,and perhaps alteration of important cellular andsub-cellular structures. Respiration and Ethyleneproduction are the metabolic reactions generallyincrease with increasing temperature up to 40°C,after which ethylene biosynthesis is impairedby heat stress (Eaks, 1978). On the other hand,enzymatic reactions occur more slowly at lowtemperatures, so, it will extend the shelf life offlowers. Water deficit in flowers during theprolonged storage under higher temperature maystimulate ethylene production and as a

23


consequence there is increase of tissuerespiration (Yang and Pratt, 1978).

Respiration rate under ambient condition was5 fold higher than jasmine flowers stored at 4°Cand ethylene release also follows the similartrend that, under ambient condition it was 10fold higher than flowers stored at 4°C. Ting,1982 reported that enzymatic and physiologicalprocesses are twice to thrice faster for each10°C increase of temperature.

Effect of different storage temperature onshelf life of J.sambac cv. Gundumalli flowers

Among the different storage temperaturesjasmine flowers stored under 8°C proved to bethe best with a maximum shelf life of 8 daysfollowed by 4°C which recorded a shelf life of6 days. There was an inverse relationship withregard to increase in storage temperature andshelf life of flowers. In the other storagetemperature, when the storage temperatureincrease shelf life also decreased i.e., 5 days in12°C, 4 days in 16°C, 3 days in 20°C, 2 daysin 24°C and one day under ambient condition.At 4°C storage jasmine flowers recorded theshelf life of 6 days, which causes the non-floweropening and discolouration.There was strikingreduction in the shelf life ie., 8 days at 8°C to1 day under ambient condition (Fig. 2).

The strong correlation between the post storagelife and respiration during the storage in jasmineare consistent with the findings of Cevallos andReid, 2000, who suggested that temperaturedependent changes in respiration are largelyresponsible for the effect of temperature onvaselife of cut flowers. While it may be thatthese changes are simply a correlation, thecloseness of fit and the metabolic implicationsof respiration for the process of flowersenescence suggest that the association may becasual. Changes in the shelf life of the flowers

with increasing temperature above 7.5°C mayreflect the effects of increased water loss atwarmer temperature. As shown before byCevallos and Reid, 2000 and Celikel and Reid,2002a for other flower crops, the benefit ofdecreasing temperature was largely associatedwith the reduction in respiration rate as thestorage temperature fell. The vase life of theflowers was shorter at higher temperature. Thisresult is consistent with those reported by Udaet al., 1995 and Ichemura and Ueyama, 1998.Respiration rate increased by temperature risesuggesting that sugars consumed by respirationare related to vaselife

Many species of tropical origin are injured whenexposed to cold temperature. Gundumalliflowers also showed the injury below 8°C ie.,at 4°C. Very low temperature below theoptimum storage temperature i.e., 8°C will alsoreduced the shelf life (Fig 2). This is becausethe flowers will not have the visible damageimmediately after being removed from lowtemperature. The symptoms like dicolourationof flower petals may occur when the flowersare transferred from condition of lowtemperature to room temperature, which maycause in few hours or days after removing(Skoog, 2008). This fact has been ascertainedby Reid and Anton (1980), who reported thatstorage below 10°C induced discoloration andnecrosis of the spathe and spadix of Anthurium.Relatively low temperature may also cause otheradverse effects on the longevity of flowers aswill the stimulus synthesis of ethylene (Kader,2002). Some authors attributed accelerated agingstep and stimulation of ethylene production peakat low temperature (Paulin et al., 1985).

Relationship between shelf life andrespiration at different storage temperature

The shelf life of jasmine flowers after storageat different storage temperature showed negative

24


Fig. 2: Effect of different storage temperature on shelf life of Jasminum sambac cv. Gundumalli flowers

correlation with respiration of the flowers atdifferent temperatures. Slope of the regressionhaving negative correlation. The data fittedexponential curves with R2 value of 0.83 at 4°C,0.95 at 8°C, 0.83 at 12°C, 0.98 at 16°C, 0.83 at20°C and 1.00 at 24°C (Fig. 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e,1f). Decrease in the shelf life of flowers wasmatched by an exponential increase in therespiration of flowers at increasing storagetemperature from 4°C till the ambient storage.

REFERENCES

Ashrace. 1994. Commodity Storage Requirements.Refrigeration Systems and Applications Handbook.Atlanta: American Society of Heating, Refrigeratingand Air-Conditioning Engineers.

Celikel, F.G and Reid, M.S. 2002a. Storage temperatureaffects the quality of cut flowers from Asteraceae.Hort. Science, 37(1): 148-150.

Celikel, F.G and Reid, M.S. 2002b. Post harvest handlingof stock (Matthiola incana). Hort. Science., 37(1):144-147.

Celikel, F.G. and Reid, M.S. 2005. Temperature and postharvest performance of Rose R.hybrida “First Red”and Gypsophila paniculata “Bristol Fairy” flowers.Acta Horticulturae, 682: 1789-1794.

Cevollos, J.C. and Reid, M.S. 2000. Effects oftemperature on the respiration and vase life ofnarcissus flowers. Acta Horticulturae, 517: 335-342.

Eaks, I.L. 1978. Ripening, respiration and ethyleneproduction of “Hass avocado fruit at 20 to 40°C.Journal of Amercian society of HorticulturalSciences, 103: 576-578.

Ichimura, K. and Ueyama, S. 1998. Effects of temperatureand application of aluminium sulfate on the postharvest life of cut rose flowers. Bult. Natl. Res. Inst.Veg. Ornam. Plants Tea., 13: 51-60.

Kader, A.A. 2002. Postharvest technology of horticulturalproducts. 3rd ed. Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia, Division of Agriculture and NaturalResources. 535.

Waithaka, K., Michael S. Reid and Linda. L. Dodge,2001. Cold storage and flower keeping quality ofcut tuberose (Poilanthe stuberosa L.). Journal ofHorticultural Science and Biotechnology., 76(3):271-275.

Paulin, A., Kerhardy, F. and Maestri, B. 1985. Effect ofdrought and prolonged refrigeration on senescencein cut carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus). PhysiologyPlantum, 64: 535-540.

Paull, R.E. and Chen, N.J. 2000. Heat treatments andfruit ripening. Post harvest Biology and Technology.,21: 21-37.

Reid, M.S. and Kofranek, A.M. 1980. Post harvestphysiology of cut flowers. Chronica Horticulturae.,20(2): 25-27.

Skoog, L.J. 2008. Chilling injury of horticulturalcrops. Horticultural Research Institute of Ontario,University of Guelph Factsheet.

Ting, I.P. 1982. The energy budget of plants. In: TING,I.P. Plant physiology. Reading: Addison-WesleyPublishing Company., 170-188.

25


Uda, A., Fukushima, K. and Koyama, Y. 1995. Effects oftemperature and light and dark conditions on wiltingof cut rose. Bull. Hyogo. Pre. Agric. Inst. (Agric).,43: 101-106.

Yang, S.F. and Pratt, H.K. 1978. The physiology ofethylene in wounded plant tissue. In Kahl. G.ed.Bio chemistry of wounded plant tissues. BerlinWalter de Gruyter, 595–622.

26

P.K. Sehajpal and P.J. SinghJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 26-34, 2013

Evaluation of gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.)cultivars for resistance against botrytis blight

caused by Botrytis gladiolorumP.K. SEHAJPAL and P.J. SINGH

Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004

ABSTRACT

Gladiolus is a commercial flower crop and can be grown in varying climatic conditions. Botrytisblight caused by Botrytis gladiolorum Timm. is one of the most common and destructive diseasesof gladiolus that causes great losses every year. Methods to manage this devastating disease haverelied on identification of resistant cultivars through screening techniques. An investigation wascarried out to study the performance of sixty-five cultivars of gladiolus under artificial epiphytoticconditions under laboratory conditions and in the field for resistance against the disease. None ofthe varieties was found to be immune to infection even after 4 days of incubation. Twenty eightwere found to be moderately resistant (disease reaction: >1.0-2.0); whereas thirty seven showed amoderately susceptible reaction (disease reaction >2.0-3.0). After 8 days of incubation, threevarieties were found to be moderately resistant (disease reaction: >1.0-2.0); whereas twenty onehad moderately susceptible reaction (disease reaction >2.0-3.0) and forty one varieties were foundto be moderately susceptible against the disease (disease reaction >2.0-3.0). In field conditions,four varieties, namely Dhanvantri, Jacksonville Gold, Nova Lux and Punjab Glance showed verygood level of genetic resistance against the disease (disease reaction: < 1.0). Seventeen varietieswere found to be moderately resistant (disease reaction: >1.0-2.0); while, thirty five moderatelysusceptible to the disease (disease reaction >2.0-3.0). Nine varieties, namely Red Beauty, Regency,Snow Princess, True Yellow, Ratna Butterfly, Bis-Bis, Odysee, Hunting Song and Sancerre werefound to be the most susceptible to infection (disease reaction: >3.0-4.0). As far as agronomiccharacters are concerned, cultivar Anglia was earliest (68.00 days) in spike emergence. Maximumplant height of 112.66 cm was shown by Pune Hybrid, whereas the cultivar Punjab Flame gavehighest spike length.

Key words: Gladiolus, Botrytis gladiolorum, host resistance, varieties.

INTRODUCTION

Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.) is themost popular flower with magnificent floretsborne on a long spike. It belongs to the familyIridaceae. It is estimated that throughout Indiaaround 6000 ha of land is under cultivation ofthis flower (Sharma et al., 2012). In Punjab, thearea under this crop is 180.65 ha. (Pers. Comm.,Department of Horticulture. Punjab; crop

season: 2012-13). Most of the area in the stateis concentrated in the districts of Jalandhar (47ha), Patiala (39 ha) and Ludhiana (32 ha).Growing of gladiolus is a profitable venture;hence, there is lot of scope for expanding thearea under this crop.

Gladiolus is susceptible to many diseases amongwhich botrytis blight caused by Botrytisgladiolorum Timm. is highly devastating. The

27

Evaluation of gladiolus cultivars for resistance against botrytis blight caused by Botrytis gladiolorum

disease causes major losses to gladiolus undercool and wet weather conditions. Growingresistant cultivars is the most economical methodof avoiding losses in crop yields. Prior to 1995,botrytis blight was not a serious problem forgladiolus cultivation in Punjab, but its incidenceincreased substantially in the following years(Singh et al., 2005). Now it has become a majorlimiting factor in successful cultivation of thiscrop. Limited studies have been conducted atnational and international level to evaluategladiolus cultivars against this disease whichtakes a heavy toll of the crop. Keeping in viewthe potential of the disease, sixty-five genotypesof gladiolus were screened against the pathogenunder field and laboratory conditions. Asresistance in gladiolus to B. gladiolorum haslargely been found to be lacking in the floraltissue (Singh et al., 2008), only the foliar tissuewas screened against the disease in the presentstudy to identify sources of resistance. The mainobjective of the present study was to identifyvarieties possessing resistance against foliarinfection, so that the resulting losses by way ofthe disease may be curtailed.


The experiment was carried out in the Depart-ment of Floriculture and Landscaping, P.A.U,Ludhiana. The fungus was isolated from infectedleaves of gladiolus cv. White Prosperity. Theinfected leaves were cut into small pieces andsurface-sterilized in 1:1000 mercuric chlorideand rinsed thrice in sterilized water. The surfacesterilized pieces were placed aseptically on thePotato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium (peeledpotatoes: 250 g; sucrose : 20 g; agar-agar: 20 g;water: 1 litre, to make final volume) in test tubesand incubated at 20±1°C in B.O.D incubator.

Laboratory screening

Corms of different gladiolus cultivars were

planted in the field at 30 cm × 20 cm spacingduring the month of October and recommendedpackage of practices followed for cropcultivation (Kumar and Sidhu, 2011). Leavesof the plants at spike emergence stage of thecrop were screened against the pathogenemploying detached leaf technique. Thirtyhealthy leaves of each gladiolus cultivar werecut with a scissor, brought to laboratory andwashed thoroughly with distilled water. Thesewere inoculated with a spore suspension offungus B. gladiolorum standardized at 4x104

conidia/ml of water. Ten inoculated leaves ofeach of the gladiolus variety having threereplications were put in glass jars containingaround 150 ml of distilled water and placed onthe laboratory bench at ambient temperaturearound 20ºC. High relative humidity wasmaintained for 72 hrs by occasional spraying ofwater during the day time. The data on severityof disease were recorded after 4 and 8 days ofinoculation, by using a 0-4 rating scale, where‘0’ represented immune reaction, whereas ‘4’extensive spotting of leaves. The diseaseseverity ratings were categorized into differentinfection types as given below: 0.00-1.00=Resistant (R); >1.00-2.00 = ModeratelyResistant (MR); >2.00-3.00 = ModeratelySusceptible (MS); >3/00-4.00 = susceptible (S).

Field screening

Corms of gladiolus varieties were planted in arandomized block design (RBD), having 3replications each. The recommended package ofpractices were followed for crop cultivation.Optimum moisture level in the field was createdby irrigating the field before inoculation. Sporesuspension of the fungus was prepared from a3 weak old culture of the fungus in the distilledsterile water and standardized at 4x104 conidia/ml of water. The suspension was sprayed in theevening hours at spike emergence stage of the

28

P.K. Sehajpal and P.J. Singh

crop. High relative humidity in the field wasmaintained for 72 hrs by occasional spraying ofwater on the plants during the daytime. Data onseverity of disease were recorded after 21 daysof inoculation as described in the aboveexperiment. Data on plant height, days to spikeemergence, spike length and number/size offlorets were recorded after 100 days of plantingof corms, whereas on number and weight ofcorms and cormels at harvest of the crop.

Statistical analysis were performed using CRDand RBD design, respectively, for laboratory andfield screening experiments. Correlationcoefficient was worked out between diseaseseverity and agronomic parameters of differentvarieties for better interpretation of data.


Disease reaction

Reaction of 65 gladiolus cultivars to B.gladiolorum as recorded under laboratoryconditions has been given in Table 1. It was foundthat none of the varieties was found to beresistant against the pathogen after 4 days ofincubation. Twenty eight varieties were observedto be moderately resistant (disease reaction:>1.0-2.0); whereas thirty seven showed amoderately susceptible reaction (diseasereaction: >2.0-3.0). None of the varietiesshowed disease score of more than 3.00 in 4day’s time. Disease developed further and after8 days of incubation high disease severity(disease score: 4.00) was recorded in some ofthe susceptible varieties including the check.Three varieties were found to be moderatelyresistant (disease reaction: >1.0-2.0); whereastwenty one had moderately susceptible reaction(disease reaction: >2.0-3.0) and forty onevarieties were found to be susceptible againstthe disease (disease reaction: >3.0-4.0).

Under the field conditions four varieties, viz.Dhanvantri, Jacksonville Gold, Nova Lux andPunjab Glance showed very good level ofgenetic resistance (disease reaction: d” 1.0)against the disease (Table 2). Seventeenvarieties were found to be moderately resistant(disease reaction: >1.0-2.0); while, thirty fivevarieties moderately susceptible (diseasereaction >2.0-3.0). Nine varieties, namely RedBeauty, Regency, Snow Princess, True Yellow,Ratna Butterfly, Bis-Bis, Odysee, Hunting Songand Sancerre were observed to be susceptibleto the disease (disease reaction: >3.0-4.0).

Comparative data showed that the diseaseratings were higher under laboratory conditionsthan under field conditions. It is obviouslybecause of better environment or diseasedevelopment conditions under laboratoryconditions.

Several other workers have also reported reactionof gladiolus varieties against the disease. Kumar(2008) reported almost similar findings, whoreported an additional variety Spic ‘n’ Spanresistant under laboratory and field conditions.Uibo and Normet (2005) evaluated 29 cultivarsof gladiolus against various diseases and foundthat 13 cultivars, viz. Deciso, Fidelio, HuntingSong, Mascagni, Peter Pears, Praha, Purple Rain,Rose Supreme, Semarang, Spic ‘n’ Span, VictorBorge, White Prosperity and Wine and Roseswere most resistant to B. gladiolorum. However,in the present investigation some of thesevarieties, viz. Fidelio, Hunting Song, Peter Pearsand Praha were found to be susceptible tomoderately susceptible under laboratory and fieldconditions.

In the present study, nine cultivars, namelyRed Beauty, Regency, Snow Princess, TrueYellow, Ratna Butterfly, Bis-Bis, Odysee,Hunting Song and Sancerre showed susceptiblereaction against the disease under laboratory

29


Table1: Reaction of gladiolus varieties against Botrytis gladiolorum under artificial epiphytotic conditions in thelaboratory (Pooled analysis 2011-12, 2012-13)

Sr. Variety Disease Category Sr. Variety Disease CategoryNo Severity* of No Severity* of

After infection After infection

4 days 8 days 4 days 8 days

1. Dhanvantri 1.33 2.00 MR 34. Advance Red 2.50 3.50 S2. Punjab Glance 1.33 2.00 MR 35. American Beauty 2.66 3.50 S3. Shagun 1.33 2.00 MR 36. Amsterdam 2.50 3.50 S4. Jacksonville Gold 1.33 2.16 MS 37. Anglia 2.00 3.50 S5. SJN 1.33 2.16 MS 38. Arka Kesar 2.50 3.50 S6. Rose Supreme 1.66 2.16 MS 39. Blue Sky 2.66 3.50 S7. Happy End 1.33 2.50 MS 40. Cooper King 2.16 3.50 S8. Shan-e-Punjab 1.50 2.50 MS 41. Green Spire 2.16 3.50 S9. Punjab Lemon Delight 1.83 2.66 MS 42. Gunjan 2.67 3.50 S10. Nova Lux 1.66 2.67 MS 43. Jessica 2.16 3.50 S11. Punjab Flame 2.00 2.67 MS 44. Ocilla 2.16 3.50 S12. Yellow Stone 1.67 2.67 MS 45. Plum Tart 2.50 3.50 S13. Chemistry 1.66 2.83 MS 46. Priscilla 2.33 3.50 S14. Royal Jubilee 2.16 2.83 MS 47. Wind Song 2.66 3.50 S15. Sunset 1.50 2.83 MS 48. Aldebaran 2.33 3.66 S16. Trader Horn 1.83 2.83 MS 49. Praha 2.66 3.66 S17. Bonaire 1.83 3.00 MS 50. Punjab Pink Elegance2.33 3.66 S18. CPG 2.33 3.00 MS 51. Snow Princess 2.00 3.66 S19. Melody 2.33 3.00 MS 52. Solist 2.33 3.66 S20. Overture 2.00 3.00 MS 53. Ratna Butterfly 2.00 3.67 S21. Peasano 2.00 3.00 MS 54. Red Beauty 2.00 3.67 S22. Peter Pears 2.16 3.00 MS 55. Big Time Supreme 2.33 3.67 S23. Punjab Dawn 2.16 3.00 MS 56. Regency 2.00 3.67 S24. Sylvia 2.16 3.00 MS 57. Alexander The Great 2.33 3.83 S25. Chandni 2.33 3.16 S 58. Bis-Bis 2.33 3.83 S26. G-55 2.00 3.16 S 59. Fidelio 2.50 3.83 S27. Pune Hybrid 2.00 3.16 S 60. Forta Rosa 3.00 3.83 S28. Punjab Morning 1.83 3.16 S 61. Sancerre 2.67 3.83 S29. Applause 2.00 3.33 S 62. True Yellow 2.50 3.83 S30. Purple Flora 2.33 3.33 S 63. Wigis Sensation 2.83 3.83 S31. Shobha 2.33 3.33 S 64. Hunting Song 3.00 4.00 S32. Suchitra 2.33 3.33 S 65. Odysee 2.00 4.00 S33. White Prosperity 2.33 3.33 SC.D. (0.05) 0.63 0.67

*Based on a 0-4 scale

conditions. Out of these, three cultivars, namelySancerre, Hunting Song and Bis-Bis werereported to be highly susceptible to the diseaseby Singh and Sidhu, too (2002). Kumar (2008)

also reported seven out of these nine cultivars,except for Hunting Song and Odysee, to besusceptible to highly susceptible against thedisease. The varieties found susceptible to

30

P.K. Sehajpal and P.J. SinghTa

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31

Evaluation of gladiolus cultivars for resistance against botrytis blight caused by Botrytis gladiolorum31

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32


botrytis blight could be used as a check invarietal evaluation trials. The varieties foundresistance to the disease may be grown as suchor used in breeding programs to incorporateresistance into other desirable genotypes.

Agronomic parameters

As only those disease resistant varieties thathave good agronomic traits have the potentialto be commercialized, the agronomic parametersof all the varieties were recorded so that anintelligent assessment may be made for selectionof disease resistant varieties. The agronomicparameters have been discussed below:

(i) Plant height

The varieties those had plant height of morethan 95 cm were Pune Hybrid, Fidelio, TraderHorn, Bis-Bis, Punjab Flame, Peasano, PunjabGlance, SJN, Solist, True Yellow, Bonaire,White Prosperity, Snow Princess, RoseSupreme, Dhanvantri, Green Spire, Melody andYellow Stone. The variety Jessica had least plantheight of 53.33 cm.

(ii) Number of days taken for first floret toshow colour

The Number of days taken for first floret toshow colour ranged from 68.00 to 121.66 dayswith a mean of 93.22 days. Among the 65cultivars, Anglia was the earliest (68.00 days),followed by Punjab Glance (71.16 days), PunjabDawn (72.00 days), Bis-Bis (73.33 days)Bonaire (79.00 days) and Cooper King (79.66)The variety Amsterdam was late to spikeemergence (121.66 days) followed by Jessica(120.50 days), Ratna Butterfly (119.83 days)Advance Red (116.16 days), Alexander TheGreat (115.83 days), Wind Song (114.50 days),Overture (113.16 days) and Peasano (111.83days).

(iii) Spike length

The varieties Punjab Flame, Pune Hybrid, Bis-Bis, Fidelio, Peasano and Trader Horn possessedlong spikes (95.00, 88.00, 87.66, 87.00, 86.16and 85.00 cm, respectively), followed by SJN,Solist, Bonaire, True Yellow, Rose Supreme andGreen Spire which were the other suitablevarieties for good spike length (79.00 to 82.00cm).

(iv) Number of florets per spike

The variety Solist had maximum number offlorets (18.00) followed by Pune Hybrid (16.50),Peasano (15.50), Shobha and Snow Princess(15.33). The varieties having low number offlorets are less suited for commercial cultivationof gladiolus.

(v) Size of florets

The maximum size of florets was found in RedBeauty (12.16 cm) followed by Yellow Stone(11.81cm), Rose Supreme (11.05 cm), Melody(10.13 cm) and Snow Princess (10.00 cm).Many varieties had floret size ranging between7.00 and 10.00 cm. The varieties Sunset,Aldebaran, Punjab Flame, G-55, Amsterdam,Jessica and Royal Jubilee had flower diameterless than 7.00 cm.

(vi) Number of corms/plant

The rate of corm multiplication was high (morethan 1.75 times the number of corms originallyplanted) in the varieties, viz. Punjab Dawn(2.85), G-55 (2.65), Gunjan (2.35), Big TimeSupreme (2.21), Ocilla (2.12), Chandni (2.11),Snow Princess (2.06), Shan-e-Punjab (2.00),SJN (1.95), Shagun (1.90), Peter Pears (1.77)and Yellow Stone (1.76), which could be rankedas fast multipliers. The rest of the varieties weremedium to slow multipliers.

33


(vii) Corm weight

The maximum corm weight (91.66 g) wasobserved in Punjab Dawn followed by Chandni(82.77 g) and Punjab Glance (81.23). Cormweight was found to be between 40 to 70 g inthe varieties Pune Hybrid, Shagun, SJN, YellowStone, Gunjan, Chemistry, Punjab LemonDelight, Anglia, Wigis Sensation, Shan-e-Punjab, Odysee, Ocilla, Peasano, True Yellow,Snow Princess, Shobha, Dhanvantri, Arka Kesarand Cooper King.

(viii) Number of cormels/plant

Number and weight of cormels also showedvariable responses for the cultivars under study.Number of cormels/plant was recordedmaximum by Punjab Glance (23.88), followedby Punjab Flame (19.15), SJN (16.83), PunjabLemon Delight (13.31), Alexander The Great(10.83) and Solist (10.27).

(ix) Weight of cormels/plant

Maximum weight of cormels/plant was recordedin Punjab Glance (9.82g), followed by SJN(6.94 g) and Sylvia (6.72 g) while minimumcormel weight per plant was observed in Anglia(0.07 g).

Some earlier workers have also studiedperformance of gladiolus varieties and reportedquantitative data on various traits (Arora andKhanna, 1985; Saini et al. 1991; Patil, et al1994; Pasannavar et al. 1998; Balaram et al.2009; Shaukat et al., 2013, Singh et al, 2013).The differences in data may be due to variableclimatic conditions, date of planting, nutritionalstatus of soil, etc.

Vegetative and yield parameters were poorly tomoderately correlated with disease severity (r =- 0.03 to -0.41). It indicates that the diseaseadversely affected these parameters to some

extent. Plant height, spike length, number ofdays for the first floret to show colour andnumber and size of florets were affected to alesser extent (r = -0.03 to -0.20) than the numberand weight of corms and cormels (r= -0.25 to –0.41). Among the corms and cormels the yieldof former was impacted less (r = -0.25 to – 0.31)than the latter (r= -0.39 to – 0.41). It is logicalto believe that the vegetative characters will beaffected the least; as the data on theseparameters were recorded only a few weeks afterthe plants were inoculated. The adverse effectbecame more marked with passage of time andwas maximum on cormel production whichtakes place at the fag end stage of the crop afterthe corms form.

Some good sources of resistance to botrytisblight were identified in the present researchwhich may be exploited as such on acommercial scale or used in breedingprogramme for developing more desirablegenotypes. These sources will greatly help inslowing down the rate of epidemic build up andprovide protection from this devastating disease.Apart from resistance, some genotypes werefound to be more suitable for other agronomicparameters, for instance, for earliness, betterspike length, higher number and size of florets,and better corm and cormel yield. The cultivarsmay be selected for the trait of interest includingresistance to botrytis blight. The present studywill serve as useful guide for the growers forselecting suitable cultivars.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors are extremely grateful to The Head,Department of Floriculture and Landscaping,Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana forproviding the necessary facilities for carryingout the work.

34


REFERENCES

Arora, J.S. and Khanna, K. 1985. Evaluation of gladioluscultivars. Journal of Research, Punjab AgriculturalUniversity, 22 : 655-662.

Balaram, M.V.T., Janakiram, T. and Vasantha Kumar, E.2009. Performance of Indian and exotic gladiolusgenotypes. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture,12(2) : 95-100

Kumar, A. 2008. Identification and characterization ofresistance to blight caused by Botrytis gladiolorumTimm. in gladiolus. M.Sc.(Agri.) Thesis, PunjabAgricultural University, Ludhiana.

Kumar, R. and Sidhu, G.S. 2011. Flower cultivation andLandscaping. Punjab Agricultural University. 72.

Pasannavar, R., Patil, A.A., Nalawadi, U.G. and Sulikeri,M.G.S. 1998, Evaluation of gladiolus cultivars forcut flower production. Karnataka Journal ofAgricultural Sciences, 11(3) : 855-857.

Patil, S.S.D., Katwate, S.M., Patil, M.T. and Patil, G.K.1994. Performance of some exotic varieties ofgladiolus. Journal of Maharashtra AgricultureUniversity, 19(1) : 38-40.

Saini, R.S., Gupta, A.K. and Yamadgni, R.V. 1991.Performance of different cultivars of gladiolus(Gladiolus grandiflorus L.) under Hissar conditions.South Indian Horticulture, 39(2) : 99-101.

Sharma C.K., Saxena, M. and Sharma, V. 2012.Influence of nutrition and planting density on theyield of gladiolus: production of spikes, corms and

cormels of gladiolus. Lap Lambert AcademicPublishing. 112.

Shaukat S.A., Shah, S.Z.A., Shaukat S.K. and Shoukat,S.W. 2013. Performance of gladiolus (Gladiolusgrandiflora l.) cultivars under the climatic conditionsof Bagh Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan.Journal of Central European Agriculture, 14(2) :158-167.

Singh P.J. and Sidhu, G.S. 2002. An efficient techniquefor evaluation of gladiolus cultivars against Botrytisgladiolorum. Annual meeting of IndianPhytopathological Society (NZ) and NationalSymposium on Integrated Plant DiseaseManagement through Eco-friendly Strategies, 49,Nov 22-23, 2002 at Punjab Agricultural University,Ludhiana.

Singh, A.K., Kumar, A. and Ghimire, N.R. 2013.Performance of Indian and exotic varieties ofgladiolus under eastern Uttar Pradesh conditions.Asian Journal of Horticulture, 8(1) : 191-194.

Singh, P.J., Sidhu, G.S. and Kumar, R. 2005. Effect ofpre- and post-inoculative sprays of fungicides onblight of gladiolus caused by Botrytis gladiolorum.Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, 8(2) : 137-139.

Singh, P.J., Kumar, R. and Sidhu, G.S. 2008. Efficacy offungicides against Botrytis gladiolorum of gladiolus.Plant Disease Research, 23 : 19-23.

Uibo, E.K. and Normet, A. 2005. Disease resistance ofDutch gladiolus. Transaction of the EstonianAgricultural University, Agronomy, 220 : 177-179.

35

Effect of different potting media for pot mum production in chrysanthemum grown under open and polyhouse conditionsJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 35-39, 2013

Effect of different potting media for pot mum production inchrysanthemum grown under open and polyhouse conditions

MADHU BALA* and KUSHAL SINGH

Department of Floriculture and Landscaping,Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004

*E-mail : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Seven different potting media comprising soil, sand, FYM, vermicompost and cocopeat wereevaluated to sustain growth of pot mum production in chrysanthemum cv. “Yellow Charm”. Thesemedia were mixed in different ratio to make seven different all treatment combinations. Presentablelife of pot mum chrysanthemums was found appreciable in treatment comprising soil + sand +FYM + vermicompost (2:1:0.5:0.5) along with improved vegetative and flowering characters thatwere found satisfactory for specimen display of pot mum chrysanthemums both under open aswell as polyhouse conditions. The performance of chrysanthemum cv. Yellow Charm grown underopen conditions was at par with plants grown under polyhouse condition with respect to vegetativeand floral characters. However parameters like days to flowering, duration of flowering and numberof flowers per plants were improved under polyhouse condition.

Key words: Potting media, FYM, chrysanthemum, pot mum

INTRODUCTION

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifoliumRamat.) is one of the most widely cultivatedherbaceous perennial plants belongs to familyAsteraceae and commonly known as “Queen ofthe East”, “Autumn Queen” and “Guldaudi”. Itis commonly known as important for cut floweras well as potted plant in the internationalmarket and among the top ten best selling cutflowers in almost all major flower consumingcountries. Chrysanthemum has also beenconsidered as number one among the major potcrops and pot mums are now grown all overthe world. Now due to rapid urbanization andpopulation explosion, there is a paucity of spacefor gardening and growing plants. This hasforced people to use foliage and flowering potplants to decorate their dwellings and

surroundings in order to satisfy their gardeningdesire. The versatile nature of this flower, itsearly blooming habit along with economy ofspace, time, labour and material, an excellentrange of colour, form, long lasting quality ofblooms simple propagation method and easewith which the small potted plants can behandled has made pot culture of chry-santhemum has made this style of growing verypopular.

An ideal pot mum is one in which the diameterof flowering head is equal to the height of theplant, as measured from the rim of the pot andplant height should be three times the height ofthe half-pot used. Choice of suitable cultivar,ideal pot compost, high quality cuttings, properpotting technique, optimum environment,judicious feeding, watering and management are

36

Madhu Bala and Kushal Singh

important for the production of quality potmums. The selection of media is an importantfactor as a good medium should serve asreservoir for plant nutrients, provide support forplant growth, hold water for availability to theplant and facilitate exchange of gases betweenroots and atmosphere above the root medium.The presence of sufficient nutrition, good waterholding capacity, porosity and plug formationability of media increases the root and shootgrowth, which ultimately, leads to early and highyield of the crop (Chong, 2008). Among varioustreatments, cocopeat + soilrite, soilrite +compost and cocopeat + compost showedoverall improved growth and flowering inchrysanthemum with more number of sprays/plant, earlier flowering and improved qualityaspects like flower diameter, stalk length andgirth, and number of flowers/spray and plantsin soil were poor in all parameters. (Dutt et al.,2002). Earthen pots containing soilrite was thebest for growth and flowering in chrysanthemumcv. Baggi and Yellow Gold (Pawar et al., 2005).Best pot mums are raised in friable, lighttextured substrates for optimum growth andflowering. Such substrates such as cocopeat,FYM, soil, sand and vermicompost havesuccessfully been used by Heins and Wilkins,1979. In chrysanthemum cv. Yellow Bouquet,the media amended with 0.5 % hydrogel showedleast duration (18.6 days) to produce healthycuttings as compared to the control in 24 days(Singh et al., 2005). The growth parameters,yield and quality of flowers were better in mediacontaining soil, compost and cocopeat with40kpa irrigation and fertigation with solublefertilizers (Janakiram et al., 2006). The mainaim of this research is to find out the bestsuitable potting medium for quality pot mumsproduction in chrysanthemum cv. “YellowCharm”.


The present experiment was conducted toevaluate different potting media compositionsfor pot mum production of chrysanthemumvariety Yellow Charm at the Research Farm ofDepartment of Floriculture and Landscaping,Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during2012-13 year under open as well as polyhouseconditions to compare the performance ofdifferent potting media and chrysanthemumvariety “Yellow Charm”. Five different medialike Soil, Sand, FYM, Vermicompost andCocopeat were mixed in different ratios andseven treatment combinations comprising of T1(Soil + sand + FYM, 2: 1: 1), T2 (Soil + sand+ vermicompost, 2: 1: 1), T3 (Soil + sand +FYM + vermicompost , 2: 1: 0.5: 0.5), T4(Cocopeat), T5 (Cocopeat + sand + FYM, 2 :1: 1), T6 (Cocopeat + sand + vermicompost, 2:1: 1) and T7 (Cocopeat + sand + FYM +vermicompost, 2: 1: 0.5: 0.5) were prepared forquality pot mum production in chrysanthemum.

The healthy terminal rooted cuttings (5-7 cm)of chrysanthemum cv. Yellow Charm, free fromsymptoms of any disease or insect pest wereprepared during mid of July and then plantedin propagating plug trays having burnt rice huskas rooting media. Plug trays were kept moist bysprinkling water with the help of watering canto ensure satisfactory rooting of cuttings. Newroots developed after 15-20 days. Terminalrooted cuttings (three / pot) were transplantedin plastic pots (15 cm) comprising differentpotting media in the first week of August forfurther evaluation. The experiment consists threereplications and each replication had ten pots.All the recommended package of practices suchas hoeing, irrigation, application of fertilizersand adequate crop protection measures againstpests and diseases were followed to get goodplant growth and quality flower production.

37

Effect of different potting media for pot mum production in chrysanthemum grown under open and polyhouse conditions

Pinching operation was practiced at two stages-first at four weeks after transplanting and secondat seven weeks after transplanting to encouragethe emergence of lateral shoots. The obser-vations on vegetative and flowering characterslike plant height, number of branches per plant,days to flowering, duration of flowering, numberof flowers per plant and plant spread wererecorded. The experiment consist threereplications and each replication had ten pots.The data was analyzed by using CompletelyRandomized Design (CRD).


Experiments were conducted to evaluatedifferent potting media compositions for potmum production of variety Yellow Charm bothunder open and polyhouse conditions. Theobservations were recorded with respect tovarious vegetative and floral characters Sevendifferent media comprising, Soil + Sand + FYM(2:1:1), Soil + Sand + Vermicompost (2:1:1),Soil + Sand + FYM + Vermicompost(2:1:0:5.0.5), Cocopeat, Cocopeat + Sand +FYM (2:1:1), Cocopeat + Sand + Vermicompost

(2:1:1) and Cocopeat + Sand + FYM +Vermicompost (2: 1: 0.5: 0.5) were tested.Results were found to be significant with respectto plant height, number of branches per plant,Days to flowering, number of flowers per plantand plant spread where as flower size andduration of flowering showed no significantdifference. The data presented in Table 1 showedthat the treatment T3 (Soil + Sand + FYM +Vermicompost (2:1:0:5.0.5) gave maximumplant height (20.46 cm), number of branches perplant (39.97), number of flowers per plant(210.69), plant spread (21.75 cm) with minimumnumber of days taken for flowering (113.28)followed by Treatment T2 (Soil + Sand +Vermicompost (2:1:1) with plant height (19.96cm), number of branches per plant (36.56),number of flowers per plant(175.37), plantspread (20.37 cm) with number of days takenfor flowering (116.88). The minimum plantheight (14.49 cm), number of branches per plant(21.42), number of flowers per plant (126.85),plant spread (14.78 cm) with number of daystaken for flowering (120.04) were recorded withtreatment T4 (Cocopeat).

Table 1: Effect of media composition for pot mum production in chrysanthemum variety Yellow Charm (Openconditions).

Treatment Plant No. of Days to Diameter Durationof No. of Plantheight branches flowering of flower flowering flowers spread(cm) per plant (cm) (days) per plant (cm)

T1 Soil + Sand + FYM (2:1:1) 17.60 28.84 119.11 3.22 29.92 162.16 16.29

T2 Soil + Sand + 19.96 36.56 116.88 3.43 32.36 175.37 20.37Vermicompost (2:1:1)

T3 Soil + Sand + FYM + 20.46 39.97 113.28 3.73 34.87 210.69 21.75Vermicompost (2:1:0:5.0.5)

T4 Cocopeat 14.49 21.42 120.04 3.54 30.78 126.85 14.78

T5 Cocopeat + Sand + FYM 18.26 22.21 117.39 3.59 30.09 145.61 16.25(2:1:1)

T6 Cocopeat + Sand + 17.97 26.79 117.12 3.56 31.26 158.87 15.79Vermicompost (2:1:1)

T7 Cocopeat + Sand + FYM + 18.53 30.19 119.76 3.46 33.30 165.80 19.48Vermicompost (2:1:0.5:0.5)

C.D. (P= 0.05) 0.35 0.28 0.82 NS NS 2.96 1.58

38

Madhu Bala and Kushal Singh

Under polyhouse conditions results were foundto be significant with respect to plant height,number of branches per plant, days to flowering,number of flowers per plant and plant spreadwhere as flower size and duration of floweringshowed non significant difference. The datapresented in Table 2 also showed the best resultsin the same treatment T3 (Soil + Sand + FYM+ Vermicompost (2:1:0.5:0.5) showed the bestresults by improving plant growth and floweringcharacters. This treatment gave the maximumplant height (22.47 cm), number of branches perplant (40.94), number of flowers per plant(231.49), plant spread (22.08 cm) with minimumnumber of days taken for flowering (107.42)followed by Treatment T2 (Soil + Sand +Vermicompost (2:1:1) with plant height (20.93cm), number of branches per plant (38.18),number of flowers per plant (201.17) ,plantspread (20.74 cm), with number of days takenfor flowering (111.32). The minimum plantheight (15.93 cm), number of branches per plant(21.76), number of flowers per plant (147.80),plant spread (15.08 cm) with number of daystaken for flowering (117.81), were recorded with

treatment T4 (Cocopeat). The findings obtainedhave indicated that substrates have a definiterole to play in the overall growth of pot mums.The finding on increased plant height, morespread in nutritive media like soil, sand,Cocopeat, Vermicompost and farm yard manureare in tune with that of (Lisiecka andSzczepaniak, 1992; Bond and Alderson, 1993 ;Wazir et al., 2009; Bhatia et al., 2004). Increasein duration of flowering with these mediacompositions is in agreement with the findingsof Jawahar et al., 2001. The overall improvedgrowth and flowering performance with morenumber of sprays/plant, earlier flowering andimproved quality aspects like flower diameter,stalk length and girth, and number of flowers/spray in chrysanthemum using different mediacomposition has been reported (Dutt et al.,2002) . From this experiment it was concludedthat the performance of pot mum variety YellowCharm was at par with plants grown underpolyhouse condition using different pottingmedia with respect to vegetative and floralcharacters. However parameters like days toflowering, duration of flowering and number of

Table 2: Effect of media composition for pot mum production in chrysanthemum variety Yellow Charm (Polyhouseconditions).

Treatment Plant No. of Days to Diameter Durationof No. of Plantheight branches flowering of flower flowering flowers spread(cm) per plant (cm) (days) per plant (cm)

T1 Soil + Sand + FYM (2:1:1) 19.67 29.31 113.89 3.55 35.23 179.71 16.62

T2 Soil + Sand + (2:1:1) 20.93 38.18 111.32 3.86 33.03 201.17 20.74Vermicompost

T3 Soil + Sand + FYM + 22.47 40.94 107.42 3.91 35.24 231.49 22.08Vermicompost (2:1:0:5.0.5)

T4 Cocopeat 15.93 21.76 117.81 3.10 31.14 147.80 15.08

T5 Cocopeat + Sand + 18.92 22.27 116.70 3.87 31.36 161.88 16.69FYM (2:1:1)

T6 Cocopeat + Sand + 20.10 26.82 115.20 3.86 32.58 160.82 16.12Vermicompost (2:1:1)

T7 Cocopeat + Sand + FYM 20.84 31.53 114.63 3.76 34.39 183.75 19.81+ Vermicompost (2:1:0.5:0.5)

C.D. (P= 0.05) 0.93 0.67 5.80 NS NS 3.72 1.80

39

Effect of different potting media for pot mum production in chrysanthemum grown under open and polyhouse conditions

flowers per plants improved under polyhousecondition.

REFERENCES

Bhatia, S., Gupta, Y.C. and Dhiman, S.R. 2004. Effectof growing media and fertilizers on growth andflowering of carnation under protected condition.Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, 7 : 174-78.

Chong, C. 2008. Media and containers for seed andcutting propagation and transplanting In: BeylC A and Trigiano R N (eds.) Plant propagationConcepts and Laboratory Exercises. 43-56. CRCPress, USA.

Dutt, M., Patil, M.T. and Sonawane, P.C. 2002. Effect ofvarious substrates on growth and flowering ofchrysanthemum. Indian Journal of Horticulture, 59: 191-95.

Heins, R.D. and Wilkins, H.F. 1979. Effect of soiltemperature and photoperiod on vegetative andreproductive growth of Alstroemeria ‘Regina’.Journal of American Society for HorticulturalScience, 104(3): 359-365.

Janakiram, T., Mahantesh, M.I. and Prabhakar, B.S.2006. Standardization of agro techniques forproduction of chrysanthemum under low costpolyhouse. Acta Horticulturae, 710 : 321-327.

Jawahar, L., Joshua, M.J.P., Subramanian, A.S. and

Kumar, M.V. 2001. Standardization of growingmedia for anthurium (Anthurium andreanum) cv.Temptation under shade net houses. South IndianHorticulture, 49 : 323-328.

Pawar, V., Jagtap, K.B., Srinath, B.M. and Jagdhav, S.V.2005. Comparative studies on pot mumchrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora) withrespect to varieties, pots and substrates. Journalof Maharastara Agricultural University, 30 : 269-271.

Singh, M.C., Anupama, Singh, K.P., Singh, D.P. andSirohi, N.P.S. 2005. Response studies inchrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandifloraiTzelve) Plugs and self rooted cutting grown in gelamended media under green house nursery.Journal of Ornamental Horticulture New series, 8 :225-227.

Wazir, J., Sharma, Y.D. and Dhiman, S.R. 2009.Performance of potted Alstromeria (Alstromeriahybrida L.) in different growing media under wettemperate conditions. Journal of OrnamentalHorticulture, 12 : 167-174.

Bond, S. and Alderson, P.G. 1993. Establishment andgrowth of the rhizome of Alstroemeria as affectedby temperature and the root system. Journal ofHorticultural Science, 68 : 847-853.

Lisiecka, A. and Szczepaniak, S. 1992. Factorsinfluencing the yield of Alstroemeria. ActaHorticulturae, 325 : 379-383.

40

Vandana Dhami, V.K. Rao, Sanjay Sachan and Santosh KumarJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 40-46, 2013

Efficacy of biofertilizers on growth, flowering and yield ofAfrican marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda

under mid hill conditions of Garhwal HimalayasVANDANA DHAMI, V.K. RAO*, SANJAY SACHAN and SANTOSH KUMAR

College of Forestry & Hill agricultureG. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology,

Hill Campus, Ranichauri-249199, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India*E-mail : [email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted to study the influence of biofertilizers, organic manures andchemical fertilizers on growth, flowering and yield of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv.Pusa Narangi Gainda. Treatment comprised of biofertilizers namely azotobacter and PSB, organicmanures viz. FYM and vermicompost, inorganic fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus andpotassium).Treatment combination comprising of Azotobacter + PSB + Vermicompost wasobserved to exhibit significant effect on plant height (98.32 cm), plant spread (53.32 cm),number of primary branches (18.57), secondary branches (60.80), number of leaves (443.42), leafarea (81.35 cm2), fresh weight of 30 leaves (34.90 g), dry weight of 30 leaves (6.64 g). Floralcharacters like number of flowers per plant (56.94), diameter of flower (8.00 cm), stalk length(7.75 cm) and vase life (9.80 days) was also found maximum in Azotobacter + PSB +Vermicompost. Flowering duration (81.18 days) and total yield of flowers per plant (695.24 g)were also found maximum in treatment having Azotobacter+PSB+Vermicompost.

Key words: Biofertilizer, organic manure, inorganic fertilizer, African marigold, growth, yield.

INTRODUCTION

African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) is one ofthe commercially exploited ornamental crops ofasteraceae family which occupies prime positionamong different loose flowers. It is highlyvalued for loose flower, xantophyll content,aromatic oil, cut flowers, medicinal uses, insectand nematode repellant and organic manure. Itis a short duration, free flowering, hardy andevergreen crop.

Nutrients play an important role in determiningthe growth and yield in marigold. Thecontinuous and unbalanced use of chemical

fertilizers is leading to decrease in nutrientuptake efficiency of plants and alters the soilfertility leading to pollution of soil and waterbodies and is expensive too. Inspite of chemicalfertilizers, FYM and vermicompost are fineorganic matter which when applied to soilloosens the soil and provides the passage forthe entry of air. They also supply nutrients toplants without any hazardous effects.Application of FYM in soil increases thepopulation of microflora mainly Azotobacter(Gupta et al., 1983). However, biofertilizers canplay a pivotal role in achieving sustainableproductivity at low cost. Biofertilizers are

41

Efficacy of biofertilizers on growth, flowering and yield of African marigold

biologically active product containing selectivestrains of microorganisms which can contributenutrients to the plants through microbial activityand manures increase the effect of biofertilizers.Keeping in view the above facts, this study wasundertaken.


The experiment was carried out under openconditions at research block of Department ofHorticulture, College of Forestry and HillAgriculture, G. B. Pant University of Agricultureand Technology, Hill Campus, Ranichauri, TehriGarhwal, Uttarakhand, India, during the year2008, in sandy loam soil, with pH of 6.54. Theblock is located at an altitude of 2000 metersabove mean sea level and at a latitude of 30°15'North and the longitude of 78°50' East. Theexperiment was laid out in a randomized blockdesign with 10 treatment combinations,replicated thrice with 20 plants per replication.The details of different treatments are givenbelow :

T1 FYMT2 N: P: KT3 VermicompostT4 Azotobacter + FYMT5 PSB + FYMT6 Azotobacter + VermicompostT7 PSB + VermicompostT8 Azotobacter + PSB + FYMT9 Azotobacter + PSB + VermicompostT10 Control

Biofertilizers @1 kg ha-1 each were mixed withFYM @20 t ha-1 and vermicompost @12 t ha-1

alone and together as per the treatment ofexperiment and applied in rhizospheric areabefore transplanting. The recommended quantityof inorganic fertilizers of N (150 kg ha-1) asurea, P2O5 (150 kg ha-1) as single super

phosphate and K2O (100 kg ha-1) as muriate ofpotash were applied. Out of the recommendedquantity of chemical fertilizers, half dose ofnitrogen and full dose of phosphorus and potashwere applied at the time transplanting and resthalf dose of nitrogen was applied one monthafter transplanting. Planting was done on 23May 2008, at 30 × 40 cm spacing. Plot sizewas 1.5m × 1.5m. The observations on differentvegetative growth and floral parameters wererecorded. Six plants were randomly selected inthe each plot and tagged with label to recordvegetative and floral parameters. Conventionalmethods were employed to record the data onplant height, plant spread, number of primaryand secondary branches, number of leaves perplant, leaf area, fresh weight of 30 leaves anddry weight of 30 leaves, days taken to 1st flowerbud emergence, fresh weight of 5 flowers, dryweight of 5 flowers, flowering duration,diameter of flower, stalk length, yield of flower(both number and weight) per plant and vaselife (days). The vegetative growth characterswere recorded at the time of bud initiation andthe floral characters at full blooming stage.


Table 1 revealed that the maximum plant height(98.32 cm), plant spread, (53.32 cm) secondarybranches per plant (60.80), number of leavesper plant (443.42) leaf area (105.18cm2) freshweight of 30 leaves (34.90g) and dry weight of30 leaves (6.64g) were recorded by applyingAzotobacter + PSB + vermicompost (T9). Theeffect of different treatments were non-significant on number of primary branches perplant which was maximum (18.57) in T9(Azotobacter + PSB + vermicompost) andminimum (14.61) in T10 (control). The leastvalues for these parameters were noticed incontrol plot. The present findings were in closeconformity with the findings of Bhalla et al.

42

Vandana Dhami, V.K. Rao, Sanjay Sachan and Santosh Kumar

Table 1: Influence of biofertilizers on vegetative growth attributes of African marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gaindaunder mid hill condition of Garhwal Himalayas

Treatments Plant Plant Number Number of Number Leaf Fresh Dryheight spread of primary secondary of leaves Area weight weight(cm) (cm) branches branches per plant (cm2) of 30 of 30

per plant per plant leaves (g) leaves (g)

T1 (FYM ) 82.29 45.67 14.77 38.46 228.88 88.45 32.43 6.03

T2 (N:P:K ) 91.45 50.45 17.05 47.84 359.54 95.09 30.36 5.83

T3 (Vermicompost ) 83.83 47.69 16.66 39.99 240.06 89.25 32.86 6.60

T4 (Azotobacter + FYM ) 86.91 51.62 16.05 42.66 269.69 98.26 33.00 6.27

T5 (PSB + FYM ) 84.25 47.96 17.10 47.56 256.62 90.42 33.07 6.34

T6 (Azotobacter + 88.16 52.02 16.71 48.77 306.91 98.38 33.10 6.45Vermicompost)

T7 (PSB + Vermicompost ) 87.86 49.13 17.05 49.99 305.19 101.26 33.36 6.46

T8 (Azotobacter + PSB 92.21 52.52 17.10 58.03 387.08 102.06 33.81 6.60+ FYM )

T9 (Azotobacter + PSB 98.32 53.32 18.57 60.80 443.42 105.18 34.90 6.64+ Vermicompost)

T10(Control ) 77.17 41.14 14.61 34.86 212.87 81.35 30.29 5.68

General Mean 87.24 49.45 16.57 46.90 300.43 94.97 32.72 6.27

CD at 5% 9.39 6.38 4.47 2.05 57.70 5.57 1.51 0.56

CV (%) 6.28 7.52 15.74 2.55 11.19 3.41 2.69 5.21

(2007) in carnation cvs. Raggio-de-Sole andMurcia with Sand + Soil + Vermicompost +Inorganic fertilizer + Biofertilizers. This increasemay be attributed due to the rhizobacterialaction, auxin production, phosphate solubiliza-tion and to the sufficient quantity of nutrientflow into plants treated with vermicompostthereby, stimulating the formation of axillarybuds leading to increase in number of branches.Karuppaiah (2005) also reported increasednumber of branches and leaf area with treatmentof Azospirillum + PSB + vermicompost inFrench marigold. The growth parameters ofmarigold increased with the inoculation of PSBmight be due to phosphobacteria which enhancethe cell division and cell enlargement besidesthe growth hormones. Phosphate solubilizingbacteria secretes some organic acids such aslactic, glycolic, fumaric and succinic acids

which convert insoluble phosphate of soil intosoluble form. Syamal et al. (2006) reportedmaximum number of leaves per plant whenmarigold plants were treated with PSB alongwith vemicompost. Increased leaf area may bedue to solubilising effect of PSB that increaseavailability of phosphate ions. Vermicompostenhances the effect of biofertilizer and providenutrients, humus and increases the fertility ofsoil. The increased fresh and dry weight maybe attributed to the increase in the nitrogen levelin plant due to Azotobacter and increasedavailability of phosphate ions.

The results revealed that (Table 2) the plotreceiving Azotobacter + PSB + vermicomposthad taken significantly less number of days forfirst flower bud appearance (50.83 days)compared to plants grown in control (66.40) and

43


which was at par with T8 (50.88 days), T7 (51.10days), T5 (51.24 days) and T6 (51.36 days).These results were in similarity to the findingsof early flowering in African marigold (Pushkaret al., 2008).The higher value for fresh weightof 5 flowers (52.32g), dry weight of 5 flowers(10.70g), flowing denstion 83.18 days diameterof flower (8.00 cm), stalk length of flower (7.75cm) (83.18 days), number of flowers per plant(56.94), total flower yield per plant (695.24 g)and vase life (days) were reordered by theapplication of Azotobacter + PSB +vermicompost (T9) while the minimum valueof these parameters were recorded in control(T10). A similar effect of biofertilizers ontuberose was also reported by Barman et al.(2003) and Kumar et al. (2003). The increase

in vase life of flowers might be due to betteroverall food and nutrient status of flowers.Azotobacter has been found to hasten wiltingas compared to other treatments this may be dueto the fact that nitrogen hastens senescence(Wanger and Michael, 1971). Singh (2006) alsoreported that maximum flower yield was foundin rose with application of biofertilizers incombination with organic manure. The betterperformance of flowering parameters might bedue to the fact that the biofertilizers producethe growth promoting substance and other acidslike acetic, formic, propionic, lactic, glycolicfumaric and succinic which were positivelycorrelated with growth and flowering as reportedby Wange and Patil (1994) in tuberose.

It is evident from Table 3a and 3b that among

Table 2: Influence of biofertilizers on flowering and yield of African marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda under midhill condition of Garhwal Himalayas

Treatments Days Fresh Dry Flowering Diameter Stalk Number Flower Vasetaken to weight weight duration of length of yield life

1st flower of 5 of 5 (days) flower (cm) flowers per (days)bud flowers flowers (cm) per plant

emergence (g) (g) plant (g)

T1 (FYM ) 54.64 45.30 7.27 71.76 6.01 6.50 47.27 442.26 7.73T2 (N:P:K ) 54.81 47.03 7.78 74.46 7.20 6.75 51.60 615.29 7.93T3 (Vermicompost ) 54.60 42.00 6.98 73.18 6.53 6.56 49.49 494.02 7.80T4 (Azotobacter 52.56 46.46 7.08 78.82 6.82 7.06 54.10 593.78 8.66

+ FYM )T5 (PSB + FYM ) 51.24 46.78 7.74 82.07 7.31 7.26 51.99 602.83 8.86T6 (Azotobacter + 51.36 47.62 8.12 79.36 7.32 6.91 56.38 664.47 8.80

Vermicompost)T7 (PSB + 51.10 48.02 9.28 81.84 7.44 7.26 54.99 605.84 8.93

Vermicompost )T8 (Azotobacter + 50.88 48.52 9.92 82.88 7.56 7.61 55.33 668.94 9.66

PSB + FYM )T9 (Azotobacter + PSB

+ Vermicompost) 50.83 52.32 10.70 83.18 8.00 7.75 56.94 695.24 9.80T10(Control ) 66.40 41.14 6.29 70.28 5.75 6.26 45.66 382.15 7.80General Mean 53.84 46.52 8.11 77.78 8.72 6.99 52.37 576.58 8.61CD at 5% 1.72 4.99 1.02 1.34 0.62 0.69 5.52 96.13 0.80CV (%) 1.87 6.26 7.38 0.98 4.13 5.77 6.15 9.72 5.51

44


Table 3 a: Cost of cultivation of African marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda for flower production with application ofAzotobacter + PSB + vermicompost-T9 (Rs ha-1 )

Fixed cost (Rs.)

1. Rental value of one hectare land for 6 months Rs. 12,700.00

2. Tools/ implements/ sprayers Rs. 200.00

Variable Cost component

1. Land preparation of planting(i) Ploughing + Planking @ Rs 104 per day Rs. 2600.00

(ii) Preparation of beds @ Rs 104 per day Rs. 50,000.00

2. Manures and fertilizersAzotobacter@ Rs 750 per Kg Rs. 750.00

PSB @ Rs 750 per Kg Rs. 750.00

Vermicompost @ Rs 3.5 per Kg Rs. 42,000.00

Fertilizer application 200 mandays @ Rs 104 per day Rs. 20,800.00

3. Nursery plantingSeeds @ Rs 1200 per kg Rs. 800.00

FYM + Sand Rs. 50.00

Irrigation @ Rs 104 per day Rs. 2,080.00

Weeding @ Rs 104 per day Rs. 416.00

4. Transplanting Rs. 72,800.00

(700 mandays @ Rs 104 per day)

5. Cultural operations

1. Irrigation Rs. 29,120.00

(14 mandays @ Rs 104 per day (20 Irrigation)

2. Weeding and hoeing Rs. 46,800.00

(150 manday @Rs 104 per day) (3 times)

3. (a) Staking material Rs. 1,500.00

(b) Staking (60 mandays @Rs 104 per day) Rs. 6,240.00

Insecticide and fungicide Rs. 7,000.00

4. Spraying of insecticide and fungicide Rs. 37,440.00

40 mandays @ Rs 104/day 9 sprays

5. Harvesting of flower Rs. 4160.00

10 mandays @ 104 per day 4 harvest

Rs.3, 43,406.00

6. Packaging Cost(i) Packing material Rs. 250.00

(ii) Labour for packing Rs. 832.00

(8 mandays)

7. Transportation Cost Rs. 500.00

8. Interest on capital investment on Rs.61, 813.00

Rs 3,43,406 @ 18% per annum

9. Marketting fee/ commission agent fee Rs.5, 56,000.00

(20% of total sale of flowers)

Total Expenditure Rs. 9, 57,501.00

45


Flower Yield

(a) Total flower yield (kg) 61,778 .00

(b) Postharvest losses 10% (kg) 6,178 .00

Net yield (a-b) 55,600 .00

Sale of flower @ Rs 25 per kg Rs. 13, 90,000.00

Profit from flower crop

Gross income Rs. 13, 90,000.00

Total expenditure Rs. 9, 57,501.00

Net profit per hectare Rs. 4, 32,499.00

Table 3.b: Cost of cultivation per hectare of African marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda for flower production withapplication of different treatments

Treatments Net flower Gross Expenditure Net profityield (kg) income (Rs) (Rs) (Rs)

T1 (FYM) 35,360.00 8,84,000.00 7,93,837.00 90163.00

T2 (N:P:K) 42,640.00 10,66,000.00 9,45,282.00 1,20,718.00

T3 (Vermicompost) 39,520.00 9,88,000.00 8,38,542.00 1,49,458.00

T4 (Azotobacter +FYM) 49,200.00 12,30,000.00 9,52,582.00 2,77,418.00

T5 (PSB +FYM) 48,280.00 12,07,000.00 9,52,582.00 2,54,418.00

T6 (Azotobacter +vermicompost) 53,120.00 13,28,000.00 9,30,234.00 3,97,766.00

T7 (PSB +vermicompost) 46,120.00 11,53,000.00 9,13,060.00 2,39,940.00

T8 (Azotobacter+PSB+ FYM) 53,480.00 13,37,000.00 9,08,801.00 4,28,199.00

T9 (Azotobacter+PSB+vermicompost) 55,600.00 13,90,000.00 9,57,501.00 4,32,499.00

T10 (Control) 30,560.00 7,64,000.00 6,87,104.00 76,896.00

the various treatments highest net income perhectare was drawn from (T9) Azotobacter + PSB+ vermicompost (Rs. 4,32,499.00) while it waslowest from control i.e. Rs. 76,896.00. Keepingin view of the above facts, it is recommendedthat the application of Azotobacter + PSB +vermicompost is beneficial to obtain highervegetative growth, flower quality yield and netincome per hectare of African marigold cv. PusaNarangi Gainda.

REFERENCES

Bhalla, R., Shivakumar, M.H. and Jain, R. 2007. Effectof organic manure and biofertilizers on growth andflowering in standard carnation (Dianthuscaryophyllus Linn.). Journal of OrnamentalHorticulture, 10(4) : 229-234.

Gupta, R.S.D., Jha, K.K. and Dev, S.P. 1983. Effect offertilizer and organic manure on the microflora andmicrobiological processes in soil. Indian Journalof Agriculture Sciences, 53 : 266-270

Karuppaiah, P. 2005. Effect of azospirillum ,phosphobacteria and organic manures on growthand yield of French marigold (Tagetes patula L.).Plant Archives, 5(2) : 661-664.

Kumar, P., Raghava, S.P.S. and Misra, R.L. 2003. Effectof biofertilizers on growth and yield of China aster.Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, 6(2) : 85-88.

Pushkar, N.C., Rathore, S.V.S. and Upadhyay, D.K.2008. Response of chemical and biofertilizers ongrowth and yield of African maigold (Tagetes erectaL.) cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda. The Asian Journal ofHorticulture, 3(1) : 130-132.

Singh, A.K. 2006. Effect of farmyard manure, Azotobacterand nitrogen on leaf nutrient composition, growth,flowering and yield in rose. Indian Journal ofHorticulture 63(1) : 62-65.

Syamal, M.M., Dixit, S.K. and Kumar, S. 2006. Effect of

46


biofertilizer on growth and yield in marigold. Journal ofOrnamental Horticulture, 9(4) : 304-305.Wagner, H. and Michael, G. 1971. Effect of nonendogeneous growth regulators. Biochemistry

Physiology. Pflanzen., 162 : 147-158.Wange, S.S. and Patil, P.L. 1994. Response of tuberoseto biofertilizers and nitrogen. Journal of MaharashtraAgriculture University, 19(3) : 484-485.

47

Assessment of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus ex. Hooker F.) cultivars under polyhouse conditionJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 47-51, 2013

Assessment of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus ex.Hooker F.) cultivars under polyhouse condition

SHWETHA, K.B., SEETHARAMU, G.K., ANSAR, H. and ANIL KUMAR. S

Dept. of Floriculture and Soil Science, P.G. centre, RHREC, UHS campus, G.K.V.K., Bangalore*E-mail : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Most of the cultivars of gerbera grown in India are introduced from other countries withoutevaluating their performance under Indian conditions. Hence, the study was undertaken to studythe relative importance of commercial varieties under different climatic conditions. An evaluationstudy on gerbera under polyhouse condition was conducted at RHREC, UHS campus, G.K.V.K.Bangalore, during 2011-12. Among the nine cultivars studied, there was a significant variation forgrowth, cut flower yield and quality parameters under polyhouse (NVPH). The cv. Sonata recordedhighest (26.6) number of leaves, plant height was maximum (39.5 cm) in cv. Kyillian and plantspread (N/S and E/W) was maximum in cv. Julia (77.8 and 74.6 cm). Among flowering characters,early bud appearance was noted in cv. Kyillian (38 days), cv. Dameblanche took minimum daystaken for 50 per cent flowering (92.3) and first harvest was recorded at 73 days and bloomingperiod was maximum in (25.6 days) in cv. Sonata. The characters such as stalk length, stemthickness and stem neck thickness was observed maximum in cv. Julia (72.4, 0.88 and 0.66 cm),flower diameter was maximum in cv. Kyillian (10.6 cm) and diameter of disc florets was maximumin cv. Figaro (7.1 cm). Significant difference was observed in yield parameters. Flowers yield perplant and per square meter was maximum in cv. Sonata (9.8 and 109 flowers respectively), andmaximum vase life was recorded in cv. Julia (12.3 days).

Key words: Gerbera, polyhouse.

INTRODUCTION

Gerbera is one of the important cut flower cropand commercially important in floriculture tradein India and other countries on account of widerange of flower colours, shapes and sizes. Inthe family asteraceae, this group at presentcomprises 45 species, native to tropical Asia andAfrica. About seven species were recorded inIndia, distributed in the temperate Himalayasfrom Kashmir to Nepal at altitudes of 1300 to3200 meters. It is one of the most important cutflower and it has tremendous demand as cutflower in domestic as well as export market.

For making profitable venture, to meet qualitystandards of export or even domestic market,cultivation under polyhouse is carried out (Khan,1995). To meet the quality standards, highyielding and long lasting hybrids/cultivars haveto be grown under polyhouse. The present studyfurnishes the results on assessment of gerberacultivars under polyhouse condition.


The experiment comprising of nine gerberacultivars evaluated under polyhouse conditionat Regional Horticultural Research andExtension Centre, University of Horticultural

48

Shwetha, K.B., Seetharamu, G.K., Ansar, H. and Anil Kumar, S.

Sciences campus, GKVK, Bengaluru during2011-2012. Gerbera cultivars viz., Amlet, Julia,Pasto, Kyillian, Rionegro, Figaro, Dameblanche.Arianna and Sonata were selected for this study.The recommended agronomic packages andpractices were followed to grow a crop. The soilwas incorporated with well decomposedfarmyard manure, sand, coir pith in the ratio of2:1:1. The prepared land was irrigated three tofour times, loose the soil with spade again andbrought to a fine tilth. The land was sterilizedthoroughly with four per cent formalin @ 4.5ml/ liter and covered with a black polythene filmfor 6 days period. Raised beds of 45 cm heightand 90 cm wide to a length of 22 m wereprepared, after leaving walking space of 45 cmbetween beds and 3 months old tissue cultureplants were planted at spacing of 30 × 30 cmwith zig- zag mannre on August 2011. Theexperiment was laid out in a randomizedcomplete block design with three replications.The observations were recorded from randomlyselected five plants in each treatment the datawere analyzed statistically on various parametersviz., vegetative, flowering quality and yieldparameters.


The results obtained from present investigationon various parameters exhibited significantdifference among cultivars under polyhousecondition. The data presented in Table 1 indicatethat significantly higher number of leaves wererecorded in cv. Sonata (26.6) followed by cv.Arianna. However cv. Amlet (10.7) recordedlowest number of leaves. This variation may bedue to genetic makeup and the response ofcultivars to the varying environmental condition.Similar variations were also reported due to suchinteractions by Bhuyar and Sable (2003), Kumarand Sooch (2003) and Mahanta and Paswan(2003) in gerbera. Significantly maximum plantheight was recorded in cv. Kyillian (39.5 cm),followed by cv. Julia (37.4 cm) and it wasminimum in cv. Pasto (29.2 cm). Besides light,the polyhouse is bestowed with increasedtemperature, which boosted up the growth anddevelopment of plant (Jeevajothi et al., 2003).Plant spread (N/S and E/W) was maximum incv. Julia (77.8 and 74.6 cm), followed by cv.Rionegro (75.4 and 72.8 cm). While minimumplant spread was recorded in cv. Pasto (52.3 and

Table 1: Vegetative characters of different genotypes of gerbera

Parameters/ No. of Plant height Plant spread (cm)Cultivars leaves (cm)

N/S E/W

Amlet 10.7 31.7 53.4 49.7Julia 11.1 37.4 77.8 74.6Pasto 11.3 29.2 52.3 48.4Kyillian 15.3 39.5 62.3 58.5Rionegro 14.7 32.2 75.4 72.8Figaro 14.7 31.2 54.7 51.5Dameblanche 17.1 35.8 56.3 53.8Arianna 19.6 33.7 61.4 58.3Sonata 26.6 36.3 62.1 59.7S.Em± 0.05 0.05 0.11 0.14CD (P=0.05) 0.13 0.15 0.32 0.42

49

Assessment of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus ex. Hooker F.) cultivars under polyhouse condition

48.4 cm). This variation in number of leaves,plant height and plant spread may be due toindividual inherent character of cultivars. Suchvariation in vegetative characters were alsoobserved by Singh and Mandar (2001) ingerbera grown under polyhouse.

The data on flowering characters such as numberof flower bud appearance, 50 per cent floweringand days taken to first harvest is presented inTable 2. Flowering characters were foundsignificant during flowering period. Days to budappearance was early in cv. Kyillian (38 days),

followed by cv. Dameblanche (41 days).However, days to bud appearance was late incvs Rionegro and Pasto (59.7 each). Minimumnumber of days taken to 50 per cent floweringand first harvest was recorded in cv.Dameblanche (92.3 and 73.0 days each) andmaximum number of days taken was recordedin cv. Arianna (158.6 and 97.0 days each).Flowering characters are genetically controlled.These findings were in accordance with theresults of Ambad et al. (2001) in gerberacultivars under protected cultivation.

Table 2: Flowering characters of different genotypes of gerbera

Parameters/ Bud 50 per cent First harvestCultivars appearance flowering (days) (days)

Amlet 59.3 96.6 78.0

Julia 53.5 120.3 76.0

Pasto 59.7 123.3 85.0

Kyillian 38.0 98.6 79.3

Rionegro 59.7 102.3 75.0

Figaro 45.4 95.6 77.0

Dameblanche 41.0 92.3 73.0

Arianna 43.3 158.6 97.0

Sonata 54.6 106.6 74.0

S.Em± 1.5 0.34 0.11

CD (P=0.05) 4.6 1.0 0.33

Table 3: Flower quality parameters of different genotypes of gerbera

Parameters/ Flowers Flowers per Vase lifeCultivars per plant square meter (days)

Amlet 6.4 73 6.5

Julia 6.9 77 12.3

Pasto 6.9 76 5.4

Kyillian 8.1 90 10.3

Rionegro 7.8 87 7.8

Figaro 7.1 79 5.8

Dameblanche 8.3 92 9.2

Arianna 8.7 95 8.3

Sonata 9.8 109 11.3

S.Em± 0.07 0.45 0.08

CD (P=0.05) 0.21 1.34 0.22

50

Shwetha, K.B., Seetharamu, G.K., Ansar, H. and Anil Kumar, S.

Table 4: Yield parameters of different genotypes of gerbera

Parameters/ Stalk length Stem thickness Stem neck Flower diameter Diameter ofCultivars (cm) (cm) thickness (cm) disc florets

(cm) (cm)

Amlet 50.7 0.68 0.48 9.3 4.8

Julia 72.4 0.88 0.66 9.8 5.8

Pasto 60.5 0.71 0.57 8.9 5.8

Kyillian 59.5 0.74 0.56 10.6 5.9

Rionegro 64.5 0.84 0.63 9.6 5.0

Figaro 63.4 0.76 0.49 8.9 7.1

Dameblanche 58.6 0.69 0.54 8.4 5.5

Arianna 56.4 0.69 0.50 9.5 5.9

Sonata 54.4 0.74 0.52 9.5 5.3

S.Em± 0.11 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.05

CD (P=0.05) 0.32 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.15

(8.7 and 95 respectively) and it was minimumin cv. Amlet (6.4 and 73, respectively). Highestvase life during the study was recorded in cv.Julia (12.3 days) and it was minimum in cv.Pasto (5.4 days). These yield variation mightbe due to individual inherent characters ofcultivars and favorable microclimatic conditionsprevailing in polyhouse. Such variation in floweryield reported in gerbera by various scientists(Deepak Kumar and Ramesh Kumar, 2001;Singh and Mandhar, 2001).

REFERENCES

Ambad, S.N., Bakar, M.C., Mulla, A., Thakur, N.J. andTakate, R.L. 2001, A new low cost polyhousetechnique for gerbera cultivation. Indian Journal ofHorticulture, 46(1) : 16-17.

Bhuyar, A.R. and Sable, A.S. 2003, Assessment ofgerbera cultivars under fan and pad cooling systemgreenhouse. Symp. on Recent Adv. Indian Flori.Trichur, 12-14th November, Proceedings of IndianSociety of Ornamental Horticultre, 134-136.

Khan, M.M. 1995, Relevance of green house – A reportfrom training on construction and management oflow cost greenhouse, 8-10th 1-8.

Kumar, D. and Kumar, R. 2001, Effect of modified envir-onments on gerbera. Journal OrnamentalHorticulture, 4(1) : 33-35.

Kumar, R. and Sooch, M. 2003. Effect of shading and

Significant differences were recorded among theflower quality characters and are presented intable 3. Stalk length, stem thickness and stemneck thickness were recorded maximum in cv.Julia (72.4, 0.88 and 0.66 cm, respectively),followed by Rionegro (64.5, 0.84 and 0.63 cmrespectively) and it was minimum in cv. Amlet(50.7, 0.68 and 0.48 cm). Maximum flowerdiameter was recorded in cv. Kyillian (10.6 cm),followed by cv. Julia (9.8 cm) and it wasminimum in cv. Dameblanche (8.4 cm).Diameter of disc florets was highest in cv.Figaro (7.1 cm), followed by cvs Kyillian andArianna (5.9 each) and it was minimum in cv.Amlet (4.8 cm). These variations in qualityparameter might be due to inherent charactersof individual cultivars and also due toprevalence of congenial microclimate conditionsthat prevailed in polyhouse. These findings aresimilar to the results of Singh and Mandhar(2001).

Yield parameters of genotypes were found tobe significant (Table 4). However, maximumnumber of flowers per plant Flowers and permeter square were recorded in cv. Sonata (9.8and 109 respectively), followed by cv. Arianna

51

Assessment of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus ex. Hooker F.) cultivars under polyhouse condition

media on growth and flower production of Gerberajamesonii var. priyadarshini. National symposiumon Recent advances in Indian horticulture.Procedings of Indian Society OrnamentalFloriculture, Trichur, 12-14 Nov., 37-83.

Mahanta, P. and Paswan, L. 2003. Assessment ofcomparative performance of some gerbera(Gerbera jamesonii Bolus) cultivars under open

condition and plastic rain shelter in Assamcondition. National Symp. Recent, Adv. in Ind. Flori.Trichur 12-14 Nov, Procedings of Indian SocietyOrnamental, 154-165.

Singh, K.P. and Mandhar, S.C. 2001. Performance ofgerbera cultivars under fan and pad cooled greenhouse environment. Journal of Applied Horticulture,4(1) : 56-59.

52

Sunil Kumar, K.S. Tomar, R.C. Shakywar and Mahesh PathakJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 52-56, 2013

Integrated management of fusarium wilt of gladiolus(Gladiolus hybridus Hort.) in Arunachal Pradesh conditions

SUNIL KUMAR, K. S. TOMAR, R.C. SHAKYWAR and MAHESH PATHAK

College of Horticulture & Forestry, Central Agricultural University,Pasighat-791102, Arunachal Pradesh

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A field trial was conducted during November, 2011 to May, 2012 at Instructional Farm, Departmentof Floriculture, College of Horticulture & Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat,Arunachal Pradesh. Among the different fungicides (systemic/non systemic), bio-agents andbotanicals tested, Carbendazim (T1) was found very effective in inhibiting the wilt disease whichgave maximum plant height (67.12 cm) at 90 DAP, spike length (110.15 cm), number of floretsper spike (14.81) and corm yield (75.57g). The next best treatments observed among systemicfungicides were Propiconazole (Tilt 25% EC) (T2) and Ridomil MZ-72 WP (T3) followed by nonsystemic Indofil M-45 (T4). Bio-control agents Trichoderma viride and Bacillus subtilis manageddisease incidence which was significantly superior over control. In case of botanicals, garlic bulbextracts, parthenium and Tulsi also managed disease incidence which was significantly superiorover control. All treatments were compared with control which showed 89.67 per cent diseaseincidence and lower corm yield (27.37g). Among the ten cultivars screened, minimum diseaseincidence was recorded in Poppy Tears followed by Candyman and Hunting Song and were foundresistant against Fusarium oxysporum f .sp. gladioli. Higher disease incidence was recorded inWedding Bouquet, American Beauty and Jester which were highly susceptible cultivars.

Key words: Gladiolus, fusarium wilt, screening, Integrated management, Arunachal Pradesh.

INTRODUCTION

Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus Hort.) belongs tothe family Iridiaceae and is represented by 250species, it is called the “Queen of bulbous flowercrops” and grown in many parts of the World(Kaikal and Nauriyal, 1964). Gladiolus ispopular for its attractive spikes having floretsof huge form, dazzling colours, varying sizesand long keeping quality (Randhawa andMukhopadhyay, 1986). Gladiolus is one of themost popular cut flowers, at both National andInternational level. In the International cutflower trade, gladiolus occupies fourth place(Bose and Yadav, 1989). Gladiolus is commonly

propagated by corms and cormels. Majorgladiolus growing states are Karnataka,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana,Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and all thestates of North eastern region. Among thevarious production constraints of this crop,fusarium wilt is one of the serious andvulnerable disease world over. Fusarium wilt ofgladiolus was first time reported from California(Pryal, 1909). This disease is caused byFusarium oxysporum Schlecht Fr f. sp. gladioli(Massey) Snyd. & Hans. Heavy crop loss of 30per cent in Germany and 60-80 per cent inRussia was estimated due to fusarium wilt of

53

Integrated management of Fusarium wilt of Gladiolus in Arunachal Pradesh conditions

gladiolus leading to the death of plant androtting of corms (Protsenko, 1958; Vlasova andShltan, 1974). Although the disease has becomevery severe now a days, not much work has beencarried out on this aspect till date in ArunachalPradesh conditions. Keeping in view the abovefacts, the present investigation was carried outto develop an integrated management practicefor management of Fusarium wilt.


A field trial was conducted during November,2011 to May, 2012 at Instructional farm,Department of Floriculture, College ofHorticulture & Forestry, Central AgriculturalUniversity, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradeshfollowing recommended package of practicesfor gladiolus cultivation to find out the besttreatment for managing wilt disease of gladioluscaused by Fusarium oxysporum f .sp. gladioli.The present experiment was laid out in arandomized block design having ten treatmentswith three replications. The planting of cormswas done at 20 × 20 cm. Planting was done on1st fortnight of November, 2011. Corms ofgladiolus were dipped in fungicides (threesystemic and one contact), bio-agents andbotanicals solution for 20 minutes for eachtreatment. Highly susceptible cv. WeddingBouquet was used for present study. Preparationof aqueous garlic bulb extract and leaf materialsof parthenium and Tulsi were collected andwashed first in running tap water and then indistilled water. Hundred grams of fresh samplewas chopped and then crushed in a surfacesterilized pestle and mortar by adding 100 mlsterile water (1:1w/v). The extract was filteredthrough two layers of muslin cloth. Finally filtratethus obtained was used as stock solution for cormtreatment. Treatments were used as follows :

T1 : Corm treatment with Carbendazim @2g/lit of water.

T2 : Corm treatment with Ridomil MZ-72WP (Metalaxyl 64 + Mancozeb 8) @2g / lit of water.

T3 : Corm treatment With Propiconazole(Tilt 25% EC) @ 2ml/lit of water.

T4 : Corm treatment with Indofil M-45(Dithane M-45) @ 2g / lit of water.

T5 : Corm treatment with Trichodermaviride @ 5g / lit of water.

T6 : Corm treatment with Bacillus subtilis@ 5g.

T7 : Corm treatments with Garlic (Aliumcepa L.) bulb extract @ 10 %.

T8 : Corm treatment with Parthenium(Parthenium hysterophorus L.) leaf @10 %.

T9 : Corm treatment with Tulsi (Ocimumsanctum L.) leaf @ 10 % / lit of water.

T10 : Control (water spray)

Observations were taken on per cent diseaseincidence, growth and yield parameters likeplant height, spike length, number of florets perspike and corm yield.

No. of plants showing wilting symptomPer cent disease incidence x 100.

Total no. of plants=

Varietal screening of gladiolus againstfusarium wilt:

A field experiment on varietal screening againstfusarium wilt was also conducted during thesame season. Among the commercial varietiesof gladiolus, ten cultivars namely, AmericanBeauty, Candyman, Hunting Song, Jester,Pacifica, Poppy Tears, Red Ginger, SummerSunshine, Wedding Bouquet and WhiteProsperity were planted in a row of one meterlength. Planting was done on 1st fortnight ofNovember, 2011. Observations were recordedon per cent disease incidence, growth and yield

54

Sunil Kumar, K.S. Tomar, R.C. Shakywar and Mahesh Pathak

parameters like plant height, spike length,number of florets per spike and corm yield. Onthe basis of PDI calculated (Moyer and Peres,2008), the reaction of the cultivars werecategorized as follows :

0 % PDI = Immune to wilt of gladiolus

5 % PDI = Highly Resistant (HR)

5-10 % = Resistant (R)

11-25 % = Moderately Resistant (MR)

25-50 % = Susceptible (S)

51-100 % = Highly Susceptible (HS).


The results obtained during the course ofexperimentation have been presented in Table-1, which clearly showed that all the treatmentsreduced wilt disease incidence were significantlysuperior over control. Among the various treat-ments, minimum disease incidence (2.33%) was

recorded in systemic fungicide Carbendazimwhich was at par with Propiconazole (2.77%).However with Ridomil MZ-72 WP (4.67%),Indofil M-45(6.00%), Trichoderma viride(8.00%), Bacillus subtilis (8.67%), Tulsi(10.00%), Garlic bulb extract (12.33%) andParthenium (15.67%) disease incidence wassignificantly superior over control. The highestdisease incidence was recorded in control(89.67%). The maximum plant height (90 DAP)was recorded in systemic fungicideCarbendazim (67.12 cm) which was at par withPropiconazole (66.73cm). However, RidomilMZ-72 WP (62.14 cm), Indofil M-45 (60.87cm), Trichoderma viride (56.23 cm), Bacillussubtilis (54.43cm), Tulsi (52.56 cm), Garlic bulbextract (50.54 cm) and Parthenium (48.12 cm)plant height was significantly superior overcontrol. Spike length was recorded maximumin systemic fungicide Carbendazim treatment(110.15 cm) which was at par with

Table 1: Effect of fungicides, bio- agents and botanicals against Fusarium wilt of gladiolus cv. Wedding Bouquet.

Treatments Dose of Per cent Plant Spike No. of spikeconcentration disease height(cm) length floretsper Corm

(Corm treatment incidence (90 DAP) (cm) spike weight/kg) (g)

Carbendazim (S) 2.0g/l water 2.33 (8.72) 67.12 110.45 14.81 75.57

Ridomil MZ-72 WP (S) 2.0g/l water 4.67 (12.52) 62.14 105.56 13.19 71.47

Propiconazole 2ml/l water 2.70 (9.46) 66.00 108.34 12.54 73.83(Tilt 25% EC) (S)Indofil M-45 (C) 2.0g/l water 6.00 (14.18) 60.87 100.67 11.58 68.38

Trichoderma viride 5.0g/l water 8.00 (16.43) 56.23 98.78 11.89 65.73

Bacillus subtilis 5.0g/l water 8.67 (17.16) 54.43 97.89 10.23 64.39

Garlic bulb extract 10% bulb extract 12.33 (20.53) 50.54 93.49 9.69 60.12

Parthenium 10% leaf extract 15.67 (23.34) 48.12 90.23 8.84 50.43

Tulsi 10% leaf extract 10.00 (18.44) 52.56 94.12 9.93 62.68

Control Water spray 89.67 (71.19) 45.67 63.60 7.95 27.37

SEm ± 0.71 0.80 1.20 0.27 1.06

CD at (P=0.05%) 1.49 1.67 2.53 0.57 2.23

CV (%) 4.09 1.73 1.53 2.30 2.09

(S) - Systemic fungicide, (C) - Contact fungicide, DAP- Days after planting.Figures in parentheses are arc sine transformed value.

55

Integrated management of Fusarium wilt of Gladiolus in Arunachal Pradesh conditions

Propiconazole (108.34 cm). However, RidomilMZ-72 WP (105.56 cm), Indofil M-45 (100.67cm), Trichoderma viride (98.68 cm), Bacillussubtilis (97.89 cm), Tulsi (94.12 cm), Garlicbulb extract (93.49 cm) and Parthenium (90.23cm) spike length was significantly superior overcontrol. Among the ten treatments, maximumnumber of florets per spike was observed incarbendazim (14.81) which was significantlysuperior over other treatments. Least number offlorets per spike was recorded in control (7.95).Maximum corm weight (g) was observed incarbendazim (75.57) which was at par withPropiconazole (73.83). However, Ridomil MZ-72 WP (71.47), Indofil M-45 (68.38),Trichoderma viride (65.73), Bacillus subtilis(64.39), Tulsi (62.68), garlic bulb extract (60.12)and parthenium (50.43) corm weight was highlysignificant over control. However, least cormweight (g) was recorded in control (27.37).Among the different fungicides (systemic/nonsystemic), bio-agents and botanicals tested,carbendazim was found highly effective ininhibiting the disease which gave maximumplant height (67.12 cm) at 90 DAP, spike length(110.15 cm), number of florets per spike (14.81)

and corm yield (75.57g). The next best fungicideobserved was Propiconazole, Ridomil MZ-72WP and Indofil M-45. Bio-control agents T.viride and Bacillus subtilis managed diseaseincidence which was significantly superior tocontrol but corm yield was less. In case ofbotanicals, garlic bulb extracts, parthenium andTulsi also managed disease incidence which wassignificantly superior to control but corm yieldwas recorded very less. All treatments weresuperior over control which showed 89.67 percent disease incidence and lower corm yield(27.37 g). Shah and Srivastava (1984) foundBavistin (carbendazim) at 0.2 per cent veryeffective in managing F. oxysporum f .sp.gladioli on Croccus sativus by dipping thecorms for 20 minutes before planting. Use ofresistant cultivars together with soil drench ofcarbendazim 45 days after planting and 3 timesat 10 days intervals against F. oxysporum f .sp.gladioli was suggested by Kaur et al. (1989).

Ten commercial cultivars were screened toidentify resistance source against F. oxysporumf. sp. gladioli (Table 2). Among the ten cultivarsscreened, maximum per cent disease incidence

Table 2: Screening of gladiolus cultivars against fusarium wilt.

Cultivars Per cent Disease Plant Spike No. of Cormdisease reaction height length florets weight

incidence 90 DAP (cm) (cm) per spike (g)

American Beauty 86.11 HS 46.50 64.83 11.07 34.47

Candyman 16.32 R 57.40 86.67 15.65 63.90

Hunting Song 27.00 R 56.30 84.00 14.66 60.78

Jester 76.42 HS 47.57 68.57 11.33 35.07

Pacifica 38.78 MR 53.23 81.67 13.68 51.70

Poppy Tears 9.12 R 64.67 94.33 16.00 68.70

Red Ginger 47.67 MR 51.70 78.67 12.67 48.13

Summer Sunshine 51.10 S 49.37 75.53 12.12 44.17

Wedding Bouquet 89.12 HS 45.67 53.60 10.67 27.37

White Prosperity 61.21 S 48.27 72.27 11.73 41.93

DAP - Days after planting.

56

Sunil Kumar, K.S. Tomar, R.C. Shakywar and Mahesh Pathak

was observed in Wedding Bouquet (89.12%),and minimum disease incidence was noticed inPoppy Tears (9.12%). The maximum plantheight (90 DAP) was observed in Poppy Tears(64.67 cm). Whereas, minimum plant height wasrecorded in Wedding Bouquet (45.67 cm). Themaximum spike length was observed in cultivarPoppy Tears (94.33 cm) followed by Candyman(86.67 cm). Where minimum spike length wasobserved in Wedding Bouquet (53.60 cm). Themaximum number of florets per spike wasobserved in cultivar Poppy Tears (16.00),whereas, minimum number of florets per spikewas recorded in Wedding Bouquet (10.67). Themaximum corm weight (g) was recorded inPoppy Tears (68.70) followed by Candyman(63.90), and minimum corm weight wasrecorded in Wedding Bouquet (27.37 g). Amongten cultivars screened, minimum diseaseincidence was recorded on Poppy Tears,Candyman and Hunting Song. Hence, thesecultivars were found as resistant against F.oxysporum f .sp. gladioli. However, higherdisease incidence was noticed in WeddingBouquet, American Beauty and Jester whichwere found to be highly susceptible cultivars.These finding are in corroboration with earlierwork of Chandra et al., (1985), Palmer & Pryal,(1958) and Ram et al., (2005).

For future line of work, it is suggested that cormtreatment with Carbendazim @ 2g/l of waterand Propiconazole (Tilt 25% EC) @ 2ml/l ofwater may be very effective for the managementof wilt disease in gladiolus. It also helps toincrease the growth and yield attributes of plant.The performance of cultivars i.e. Poppy Tears,

Candyman and Hunting Song are resistantagainst Fusarium wilt. Thus by using of thesepractices we can reduce the losses caused dueto wilt disease and grow the crop successfully.

REFERENCES

Bose, T.K. and Yadav, L.P. 1989. Commercial flowers. (Ed.,Vayar Prakash, Calcutta Publication, pp. 267-350.

Chandra, K.J., Negi, S.S., Raghava, S.P.S. and Sharma,T.V.R.S. 1985. Evaluation of gladiolus cultivars andhybrids for resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. gladioli. Indian Journal of Horticulture, 42(3/4): 304-305.

Kaikal, V.S. and Nauriyal, J.R. 1964. It’s easy to growgladioli. Indian Horticulture, 8(3) : 11-14.

Kaur, S., Arora, J.S. and Khanna, K. 1989. Fusariumwilt is a limiting factor in commercial cultivation ofgladiolus. Indian Horticulture, 36 : 21-22.

Moyer, C. and Peres, N.A. 2008 : Evaluation of bio-fungicides for control of powdery mildew of gerberadaisy. Proceeding of Florida State HorticulturalSociety, 121 : 389-394.

Palmer, J.G. and Pryal, R.L. 1958. Evaluation of 160varieties of gladiolus for resistance to Fusariumyellows. Plant Disease Reporter, 42 : 1405-1407.

Protsenko, E.P. 1958. Premature yellowing of gladioli.Bulletin Central Botonical Garden Moscow. 30 : 78-84.

Pryal, W.S. 1909. Disease of gladioli. Rural New Yorker,68 : 1009.

Ram, R.B., Tomar, K.S. and Datta, S.K. 2005.Performance of certain gladiolus varieties undersodic condition. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture,8(1) : 77-78.

Randhawa, G.S. and Mukhopadhyay, A. 1986.Floriculture in India. Allied Pub lishers PrivateLimited, 376-383.

Shah, A. and Srivastava, K.K. 1984. Control of corm rotof saffron, Progressive Horticulture, 16(1/2) : 141-143.

Vlasova, V. and Shltan, N. 1974. Means for increasingresistance of plants to Fusarium wilt. Nacchn Trudystorvool SK, 37 : 127-133.

57

Evaluation of different organic potting media on growth and flowering of calendulaJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 57-63, 2013

Evaluation of different organic potting media on growth andflowering of calendula (Calendula officinalis Linn.)

ROHINI THAKUR1*, R.K. DUBEY1, S.S. KUKAL2 and SIMRAT SINGH1

1Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, 2Department of Soil Science,Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004 (Punjab)

*E-mail : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Studies were carried out at Punjab Agricultural University Landscape Nursery from October 2012to April 2013 to evaluate the effect of different organic potting media on growth and flowering ofcalendula (Calendula officinalis Linn.). Different media compositions comprising Cocopeat +Paddy Straw Compost (PSC), Cocopeat + Spent Mushroom Compost (SMC), Cocopeat +Vermicompost (VC) and Soil + Farm Yard Manure (FYM) were used in definite ratios (1:1).Maximum plant height (30.40 cm), plant spread (38.10 cm), number of branches/plant (25.30),early bud appearance (28.65 days), early flowering (36.20 days), more number of flowers/plant(51.40), more duration of flowering (123.80 days), larger flower size (6.00 cm), presentable lifeof pot plant (79.70 days), individual flower life (9.40 days), were observed in Cocopeat + VC.This media composition was observed to be ideal for raising calendula seedlings to full grownfloriferous potted calendula plants with all the desirable characteristics essential for a specimendisplay.

Key words: Calendula, cocopeat, organic potting media, vermicompost

INTRODUCTION

Calendula (Calendula officinalis Linn.)commonly known as pot marigold is a popularfree blooming herbaceous annual belonging tofamily asteraceae and is believed to be nativeof Southern Europe. The flowers are found indiverse colors and used in making bouquets,garlands and vase arrangements. The qualityproduction of potted ornamental plants can beobtained by the use of appropriate potting mediacapable of supplying essential nutrients besidesproviding good anchorage to plants in pots(Vendrame et. al., 2005). The use of organicamendments has long been recognized as aneffective means to improving the structure andfertility of the soil (Follet et. al., 1981),

increasing the microbial diversity, activity andpopulation, improving the moisture-holdingcapacity of soils and crop yield (Fredericksonet. al., 1997). Long term application of chemicalfertilizers tends to degrade the soil structure andcontaminate the soil with harmful chemicalswith long residual effect (Singh et. al., 2008).Therefore, keeping in view the need andimportance of organic fertilizers, the presentinvestigation was conducted with the objectiveof studying the effect of organic fertilizers ongrowth and flowering of Calendula officinalisso as to identify ideal potting media that is lightin weight and provides adequate nutrients forsatisfactory growth of the plants apart fromholding sufficient water for a long duration.

58

Rohini Thakur, R.K. Dubey, S.S. Kukal and Simrat Singh


The present investigation was carried out inPunjab Agricultural University Landscapenursery at Ludhiana. The experiment wasconducted during the period from October 2012to April 2013. Six different media compositionswere selected and prepared by mixing atdifferent ratios. The growing media was thenplaced in 8-inch earthen pots. Proper care wastaken to uniformly fill all pots by tapping tomaintain equal compaction levels. The seedlingsof calendula, of uniform size and age, weretransplanted (one seedling per pot). The mediacompositions were M1 [Cocopeat + PaddyStraw Compost (1:1)], M2 [Cocopeat + SpentMushroom Compost (1:1)], M3 [Cocopeat +Vermicompost (1:1)] and M4 [Soil + Farm YardManure (1:1)]. The basic characteristics ofdifferent growing media are presented inTable1.

Manual weeding was done. The pots wereirrigated once a week during the months ofNovember to February and twice a week duringMarch onward (because of high temperatureconditions). The mean temperature during thecourse of the experiment varied from 5 to 34°C. Dried and shriveled buds/flowers wereperiodically removed to encourage more budinitiation for longer duration of flowering withquality blooms. The experiment was laid out ina factorial randomized block design (FRBD)with three replications for each media. The datawere analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA)to calculate least square difference (LSD) at the

5% level of significance (Steel and Torrie,1960). Different physical and chemicalproperties of growing media were determinedto identify the factors that affect the growth ofcalendula plants. The air-dried media sampleswere used for specific determination ofmaximum water-holding capacity, bulk density(Mg m”3) using the soil core method, organiccarbon (C; Nelson and Sommers, 1982), andnitrogen (N; Subbiah and Asija, 1956). Themaximum water-holding capacity (WHC) wasdetermined with the help of Keen’s box (steelbox of 5.0 cm i.d. and 4 cm high with perforatedbottom and a filter paper disc fixed with a steelring at the bottom end) for the soil samplesdrawn at harvest.

The observations such as plant height (cm),plant spread (cm), number of branches/plant,number of days to bud emergence, number offlowers, number of days to flower withering andflowering duration (days) were recorded fromthe onset of reproductive phase until 50%withering of flowers.


Vegetative Attributes

Wide variation both in vegetative and floweringwas observed in calendula plants grown indifferent media compositions. Observationswere recorded with respect to vegetativeparameters (Table 2) such as plant height (cm),plant spread (cm), number of branches/plant andnumber of days to withering and floweringcharacteristics (Table 3), including days to bud

Table 1: Basic characteristics of different growing media

Number Media N (%) C (%) pH EC (dS m”1)

1 Cocopeat + PSC 0.68 0.79 8.26 0.87

2 Cocopeat + SMC 0.96 1.26 7.15 0.38

3 Cocopeat + VC 1.04 2.08 6.96 1.64

4 Soil + FYM 0.20 1.32 7.47 0.39

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Evaluation of different organic potting media on growth and flowering of calendula

emergence, number of buds/flowers per plant,flower size (cm), days to flowering duration andindividual flower life (days).

Highest (30.40 cm) plant height at full bloomstage was recorded in media composition M3followed by media M4 (24.80 cm) and M2(24.60 cm). However, effects of these mediacompositions on plant height were found to beat par with each other. The lowest plant height(23.20 cm) was recorded in calendula plantsgrown in media composition M1. Maximumplant height recorded in calendula plants grownin media composition M3 can be attributed tothe high percentage of N, thus contributing tovegetative growth of plant to attain maximumplant height. Nitrogen greatly influenced leafgrowth, leaf area, and photosynthetic rate perunit leaf area to control the production ofcarbohydrates and other photosynthetic products(source activity) and influenced the number andsize of vegetative and reproductive storageorgans (sink capacity) (Enggels and Marschner,1995).

Plant spread recorded showed significantdifferences among different growing mediacompositions evaluated. The greatest plantspread (38.10 cm) was observed in plants grownin media composition M3 followed by mediaM2 and M4, recording a plant spread of 31.40and 31.20 cm, respectively. However, effects ofthese media compositions on plant spread werefound to be at par with each other. Minimum(25.60 cm) plant spread was recorded incalendula plants raised in media compositionM1. From the chemical soil analysis, it wasfound that Cocopeat + VC contained the greatestpercentage (2.08%) of C among the differentmedia analyzed. High C content corresponds tohigh photosynthetic activity and cell formationin plants, thereby exhibiting abundant vegetativegrowth and better plant spread in mediacomposition M3.

Media M3 showed significant differencesamong other media compositions evaluated fornumber of branches. The plants grown in mediaM3 containing Cocopeat + VC in the ratio 1:1

Table 2: Evaluation of organic potting media compositions on vegetative attributes of Calendula officinalis

Media composition Plant height Plant spread Number of Days to(cm) (cm) Branches Withering

M1 Cocopeat + PSC (1:1) 23.20 25.60 14.80 47.30

M2 Cocopeat + SMC (1:1) 24.60 31.40 20.40 59.70

M3 Cocopeat + VC (1:1) 30.40 38.10 25.30 79.70

M4 Soil + FYM (1:1) 24.80 31.20 19.10 71.00

LSD (0.05) 0.89 0.92 0.78 2.15

Table 3: Evaluation of organic potting media compositions on flowering attributes of Calendula officinalis

Media composition Days to Flower Flowering Flower Individualbud number Duration size (cm) flower life

emergence plant (days) per plant

M1 Cocopeat + PSC (1:1) 47.70 21.60 88.00 5.10 6.10

M2 Cocopeat + SMC (1:1) 39.55 35.80 110.00 5.63 7.20

M3 Cocopeat + VC (1:1) 28.65 51.40 123.80 6.00 9.40

M4 Soil + FYM (1:1) 40.50 28.90 115.30 5.80 7.10

LSD (0.05) 4.53 0.09 1.05 0.43 0.55

60


recorded the maximum (25.30) number ofbranches followed by plants grown in media M2(20.40). The minimum number of branches perplant (14.80) were recorded in media M1.Maheshwar (1977) reported that increased levelsof nitrogen had favorably and significantlyinfluenced all the vegetative parameters studiedin maximum increase in plant height, numberof nodes, number of branches and number ofleaves and leaf area index up to flowering inasters. From the chemical soil analysis, it wasfound that Cocopeat + VC contained the greatestpercentage (1.04%) of N among the differentmedia analyzed. Papafotiou et. al., (2004)reported that low porosity negatively affectedthe plant growth. Total porosity was lowest inSoil + FYM (Table 4) supporting the results ofPapafotiou.

The minimum number of days to flowerwithering (47.30) was recorded in calendulaplants grown in media composition M1 followedby M2 and M4, which recorded 59.70 and 71.00days to flower withering, respectively. Themedia composition M3 recorded maximum(79.70) days to flower withering. High nitrogencontent of VC might have resulted in bettervegetative growth of plants leading to morenumber of days to presentable life of pot plant.

Flowering Attributes

The minimum days to bud emergence (28.65)was recorded (Table 3) in media M3 followedby M2 and M4, recording 39.55 and 40.50

number of days to bud emergence, respectively.However, effects of these media compositionson plant height were found to be at par witheach other. The maximum days to budemergence (47.70) was recorded in mediacomposition M1. Plants in soil performedpoorly, took more number of days to budappearance in chrysanthemum (Dutt et. al.,2002) supporting our results.

The maximum number of flowers per plant(51.40) were recorded in media M3 followedby M2 and M4, recording 35.80 and 28.90number of flowers per plant, respectively.However, minimum number of flowers per plant(21.60) were recorded in media compositionM1. Chamani, Joyce, and Reihanytabar (2008),showed a significant positive effect ofvermicompost on flower number in Petuniahybrida cv. Dream Neon Rose. Similarly pottingmedia containing 30% cow dung andvermicompost showed a synergistic effect ongrowth and flowering of marigold plants(Sangwan, Garg, and Kaushik 2010). Atiyehet. al., (2002) and Arancon et. al., (2008) studiedthe effects of vermicompost incorporation in thepotting media of two ornamental plants,marigolds and petunias. They reported thatvermicompost increased significantly the growthof both species and that vermicompostincorporation up to 40% produced significantincreases in the number of flowers per plant,the most important feature in the production ofornamentals.

Table 4: Water-holding capacity, soil bulk density and total porosity of different media

Media composition Maximum Water Bulk density Total porosityHolding Capacity (%) (Mg/m3) (%)

M1 Cocopeat + PSC (1:1) 274.54 0.10 94.1

M2 Cocopeat + SMC (1:1) 295.39 0.07 96.3

M3 Cocopeat + VC (1:1) 231.09 0.02 98.8

M4 Soil + FYM (1:1) 53.60 0.25 85.9

61


Maximum flowering duration (123.80 days) wasobserved in media composition M3 followed bymedia M4 and media M2, which each recordedflowering duration of 115.30 and 110.00 days,respectively. However, media M1 had showedflowering duration of 88.00 days. The increasein days to flowering duration could be attributedto conducive conditions in the substrate andhigher nutrient uptake and utilization in plantsgrown in these substrates (Dutt et. al., 2002).

Maximum flower size (6.00 cm) was observedin media M3 followed by M4 and M2, recording5.80 and 5.63 cm, respectively. However, M3,M4 and M2 were found to be at par with eachother. Minimum flower size (5.10 cm) wasobserved in media M1. The plants grown inearthen pots filled with enriched Cocopeatproduced flowers having maximum stalk length,diameter and number of ray florets (Kale, Jagtapand Badgujar, 2009).

Media M3 had shown maximum individualflower life (9.40 days) followed by M2 and M4,recording 7.20 and 7.10 days, respectively.However, effect of these media compositions

on flower size was found to be at par with eachother. Minimum days of individual flower life(6.10 days) were observed in media compositionM1.

Soil Physical Attributes

The maximum water-holding capacity (WHC)greatly differed among the treatments (Table 4).The media composition M2 recorded thegreatest (295.39%) WHC, whereas the mediaM4 recorded the lowest (53.60%) value. Themaximum water holding capacity (%) fordifferent organic potting media has beencompared in Figure 1. The difference in WHCamong the media compositions could be due todiversity in the total porosity and pore-sizedistribution. The lightweight, fibrous cocopeatadds greater porosity and helps hold greateramounts of water. Hume (1949) observed anincrease in WHC of 40% with the applicationof 2% of the cocopeat on a sandy soil.

The lowest (0.02 Mg m”3) bulk density wasrecorded for M3 and the greatest value of bulkdensity was recorded for M4 (Table 4). The bulk

Fig.1. Maximum Water Holding Capacity (%) of organic potting media.

62


density for different organic potting media hasbeen compared in Figure 2. According toRichards and Beandsell (1986) differences inbulk density obtained are most likely due tovariation in particle-size distribution of thematerial. Being fibrous, the cocopeat fiberevenly spread in the soil, and because of its lightweight it reduces the bulk density withsimultaneous increment in total porosity, whichaffects the WHC (Awang et. al., 2009). Thusfrom the above study, it can be concluded thatmedia composition M3 [Cocopeat + VC (1:1)]was found to be the best potting media to raisecalendula plants.

REFERENCES

Awang, Y., Shaharom, A.S., Mohamad, R.B. andSelamat, A. 2009. Chemical and physicalcharacteristics of cocopeat-based media mixturesand their effects on the growth and developmentof Celosia cristata. American Journal of Agriculturaland Biology Sciences, 4 : 63–71.

Arancon, N.Q., Edwards, C.A., Babenko, A., Cannon,J., Galvis, P. and Metzger, J.D. 2008. Inûuencesof vermicomposts, produced by earthworms andmicroorganisms from cattle manure, food waste

and paper waste, on the germination, growth andûowering of petunias in the greenhouse. AppliedSoil Economy, 39 : 9-99.

Atiyeh, R.M., Arancon, N.Q., Edwards, C.A. and Metzger,J.D. 2002. The influence of earthworm processedpig manure on the growth and productivity ofmarigolds. Bioresearch Technology, 81 : 103-108.

Chamani, E., Joyce, D.C. and Reihanytabar, A. 2008.Vermicompost effects on the growth and floweringof Petunia hybrida Dream Neon Rose’. AmericanJournal of Agricultural and Biology Sciences, 3 :506-512.

Dutt, M., Patil, M.T. and Sonawane, P.C. 2002. Effect ofvarious substrates on growth and flowering ofchrysanthemum. Indian Journal of Horticulture,59 : 191-195.

Enggels, C. and Marschner, H. 1995. Plant uptake andutilization of nitrogen. In Nitrogen fertilization inthe environment, ed. P. E. Bacon, New York:Marcel Dekker. 41–81.

Follet, R., Donahue, R. and Murphy, L. 1981. Soil andSoil Amendments. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey.

Frederickson, J., Butt, K.R., Morris, M.R. and Daniel,C. 1997. Combining vermiculture with green wastecomposting system. Soil Biology and Biochemistry,29 : 725-730.

Hume, E.P. 1949. Coir dust or cocopeat: A by-productof the coconut. Economic Botony, 3 : 42-45.

Kale, R.D., Jagtap, K.B. and Badgujar. 2009. Effect ofdifferent containers and growing media on yield

Fig. 2. Bulk Density (Mg/cm3) of organic potting media.

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and quality parameters of gerbera (Gerberajamesonii Bolus ex. Hooker F.) under protectedcultivation. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture,12 : 261-264.

Maheshwar, D.L. 1977. Influence of nitrogen andphosphorus on growth and flower production inChina aster (Callistephus chinensis Ness.). M.Sc.(Agri.) Thesis, University of Agricultural sciences,Bangalore.

Nelson, D.W. and Sommers, L.E. 1982. Total carbon,organic carbon, and organic matter. In Methods ofsoil analysis, part 2: Chemical and microbiologicalproperties, (2nd Edn.). 539-579.

Papafotiou, M., Phsyhalou, M., Kargas, G.,Chatzipavlidus, I. and Chronopoulos, J. 2004.Olivemill compost as growing medium componentfor the production of Poinsettia. ScientiaHorticulture, 102 : 167-175.

Richards, D.M.L. and Beandsell, D.V. 1986. The influenceof particle-size distribution in pine bark–sand–brown coal potting mixtures on water supply,aeration, and plant growth. Scientia Horticulture,29 : 1-14.

Singh, Y.P., Dwivedi, R. and Dwivedi, S.V. 2008. Effectof bio-fertilizer and graded dose of nitrogen ongrowth and flower yield of calendula (Calendulaofficinalis L.). Pl. Arch., 8 : 957-958.

Steel, R.G.D. and Torrie, J.H. 1960. Principles andprocedures of statistics. New York: McGraw- Hill.

Subbiah, B.V. and Asija, H.L. 1956. A rapid procedurefor estimation of the available nitrogen in soils.Current Science, 25 : 259-260.

Vendrame, A.W., Maguire, I. and Moore, K.K. 2005.Growth of selected bedding plants as affected bydifferent compost percentages. Proceedings of theFlorida State Horticultural Society, 118 : 368-371.

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Raveendra, Y.C., Shirol, A.M., Harish S. and Kulkarni, B.S.Journal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 64-69, 2013

Vegetative growth, yield and quality parametersof daisy (Aster amellus L.) as influenced by

gibberellic acid and genotypesRAVEENDRA, Y.C., SHIROL, A.M., HARISH S. and KULKARNI, B.S.

Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, K. R. C. College of Horticulture,Arabhavi, University of Horticultural sciences, Bagalkot-587 102

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

An experiment was carried out in the experimental field of department of Floriculture and LandscapeArchitecture, KRC College of horticulture, Arabhavi, to know the performance of daisy genotypesfor foliar spray of gibberellic acid. Gibberellic acid spray at 150 ppm helped for influencing thevegetative growth parameters and yield parameters. Among the genotypes purple multipetalproduced maximum vegetative growth and genotype star white daisy produces maximum suckersper plant. The genotype dwarf pink was found to be early to flowering. The flower yield wasmaximum in genotype white tall, followed by purple long petal, purple multipetal and dark purple.The spike length was maximum in genotype purple multipetal. Whereas, in interaction V1G1,V1G2 performed best for vegetative growth parameters. However, V2G1 and V2G2 producedmaximum leaves per plant. The sucker production was maximum in V5G1.

Key words: Daisy (Aster amellus L.), gibberellic acid (GA3)

INTRODUCTION

Daisy (Aster amellus L.) commonly called as‘Italian aster’ is an upcoming new potential cutflower crop native to Europe and parts of Asiabelongs to family asteraceae. The wide spectrumof colour ranges (blues, purples, pinks andwhites) available in Aster amellus L. used inlandscape gardens for colourful effect inherbaceous borders, bedding and potted plantsin home gardens for display and also as driedflowers for interior decoration and export (Patil,1998; Shekhara, 2010). In recent past, daisy isgaining popularity as a cut flower. Thegenotypes of daisy were released by public andprivate sectors. However, their performance isnot assessed under GLBC region.Some of thegenotypes lacking in some quality parameters.

The use of gibberellic acid is a prerequisite forsuch genotypes. Keeping in view all thesepoints, the investigation on effect of gibberellicacid on vegetative growth, yield and qualityparameters of daisy (Aster amellus L.) genotypesunder northern dry zone of Karnataka wereundertaken.


The study was carried out in an experimentalfield of Department of Floriculture andLandscape Architecture, Kittur RaniChannamma College of Horticulture, Arabhaviduring June, to August, 2010. The experimentwas laid out in factorial randomized completelyblock design (FRCBD) with two replicationsand the factors were growth promoters (2 levels)

65

Vegetative growth, yield and quality parameters of daisy as influenced by gibberellic acid and genotypes

and genotypes (9 levels) and totally 18treatments were applied. The treatment detailsand salient features of daisy genotypes arepresented in Table 1. Suckers were planted atone side of ridges and furrows at a spacing of30 cm x 30 cm in a plot size of 2.1 m × 1.8 maccommodating 42 plants per plot.From eachexperimental plot, the growth regulators weresprayed at 30 days after planting. Five plantswere randomly selected and tagged for recordingobservations at 70 days after planting on growth,yield and quality parameters.


Influence of gibberellic acid for vegetativegrowth, flowering, yield and qualityparameters

The vegetative growth parameters variedsignificantly for foliar application gibberellicacid (Table 2). The plants sprayed withgibberellic acid produced maximum plantheight, plant spread in NS, number of leaves

Table 1: The treatment details and salient features of daisy genotypes

Treatment Name of the genotype Genotype descriptions

V1 Purple Long Petal Tall plants, light purple colour flowers with long petals.

V2 Light White Dwarf Plants with Bushy nature having medium height, whitecolur flowers.

V3 Light Purple Light purple coloured medium sized flowers.

V4 Purple Multipetal Purple colour multipetal flowers, which resembles likechrysanthemum.

V5 Star White Daisy Very small sized white colour flowers with spreadinghabit and late flowering.

V6 White Daisy Dark White colour medium sized flowers.

V7 Dark Purple Compact plants with dark purple medium sized flowers.

V8 White Tall Bushy plants having average height with whitecoloured flowers.

V9 Dwarf Pink dwarf plant with attractive pink coloured flowers.

Treatment Name of the growth Preparationpromoter

G1 Gibberellic acid (150 ppm) 150 mg of gibberellic acid dissolved in 1000 ml of distilledwater.

G2 Gibberellic acid (0 ppm) Only distilled water spray.

per plant and number of suckers per plant.Whereas, significantly minimum plant height,plant spread , less number of leaves per plantand number of suckers per plant was recordedin G2 (water spray). It is known fact that GAinfluences the cell elongation, enlargement andfacilitate production of more vegetative growth(Girish et al., 2012) and helps to accumulatemore carbohydrate and thereby it might haveinfluenced the production of maximum suckers.

Flowering was significantly early for foliarapplication of gibberellins (Table 4). The daystaken for first flowering and 50 per centflowering were early in plants sprayed withgibberellic acid at 150 ppm. Whereas, the plantssprayed with water delayed in first floweringand 50 per cent flowering . It might be due tothe production of florigen which might havehelped for flowering (Girish, 2011). Signi-ficantly maximum spikes per plant, spikes perhectorand spike lengthwere recorded in plantsprayed with gibberellic acid at 150 ppm.

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Raveendra, Y.C., Shirol, A.M., Harish S. and Kulkarni, B.S.

Whereas, the less number of spikes per plant,spikes per hectare and minimum spike length )was recorded in plants sprayed with water (Table4). It might have facilitated the accumulationof more carbohydrates in terms of increasedspike yield and spike quality. Similar resultswere reported by Kulkarni (2003) in chrysan-themum.

Influence of genotypes for vegetative growth,flowering, yield and quality parameters

The significant variations were noticed forvegetative growth parameters in genotypes ofdaisy (Table 2). The genotype Purple Long Petalproduced maximum plant height (61.16 cm) andplant spread (33.51cm) EW and NS (34.00 cm),respectively. Whereas, minimum plant height

(34.35 cm) was recorded in genotype lightpurple and plant spread was minimum ingenotype Star White Daisy in EW and PurpleMultipetal in NS. The maximum number ofleaves was recorded in genotype Light WhiteDwarf . While, minimum leaves (92.52) werenoticed in genotype Star White Daisy. Regardingproduction of suckers (11.65) maximum numberof suckers were produced in genotype star whitedaisy. Whereas, minimum suckers were recordedin genotype Dwarf Pink .The variation in growthparameters in daisy genotypes is might be dueto genetic makeup. Similarly, it was opined byShekhara, 2010 in daisy.

The data pertaining flowering, yield and spikequality parameters of daisy as influenced bygenotypes are presented in Table 4. The first

Table 2: Effect of gibberellic acid and performance of genotypes of daisy (Aster amellus L.) for vegetative growthparameters

Treatment Plant height Plant spread Number of Number of(cm) (cm) leaves/plant suckers/

plant

EW NS

Gibberellic acid (G)G1 48.33 29.01 27.33 62.86 4.81

G2 42.10 27.44 24.72 56.49 4.01

SE.m± 0.64 0.58 0.49 0.94 0.16

CD at 5% 1.91 NS 1.47 2.80 0.46

Genotypes (V)V1 61.16 33.57 34.00 72.32 3.87

V2 48.30 30.12 29.30 92.52 4.85

V3 34.35 25.50 22.77 52.40 2.74

V4 46.55 25.26 22.12 46.29 5.27

V5 42.35 23.90 22.79 37.56 11.65

V6 49.40 27.67 27.78 54.18 3.37

V7 41.25 28.72 22.86 64.25 2.95

V8 48.60 30.05 25.70 53.75 3.00

V9 34.98 29.25 26.90 63.81 2.00

Mean 45.21 28.23 26.02 59.67 4.41

SE.m± 1.36 1.23 1.04 1.99 0.33

CD at 5% 4.06 3.67 3.11 5.94 0.98

67


flowering (50 days) and 50 per cent flowering(62.39 days) was recorded significantly early ingenotype dwarf pink. Whereas, delay in firstflowering and 50 per cent flowering wasrecorded in genotype Star White Daisy. Thisvariation in flowering characters was expectedamong the daisy genotypes due to differencesin genetic makeup (Suma, 2003). The maximumspikes per plant and per hectre were noticed ingenotype White Tall followed by Purple LongPetal, Purple Multipetal and Dark Purple. Thespike length was maximum in genotype purplelong petal while, it was minimum in DwarfPink. The variation among the spike yield andquality was also reported in daisy by Patil, 1998.

Interaction effect of gibberellic acid andgenotypes for vegetative growth, flowering,yield and quality parameters

The interaction of gibberellic acid and genotypeswere significantly varied for vegetative growthparameters (Table 3). The maximum plant heightwas recorded in V1G1 (61.30cm), followed byV1G2. While minimum plant height was noticedin V9G2 (30.95 cm). The plant spread wasmaximum in V1G1 followed by V1G2, V8G1,V7G1, V2G1and V2G2at east west. Whereas, itwas minimum in V5G2. The plant spread innorth south direction recorded significantlymaximum in V1G1, followed by V2G1and V1G2.While, it was minimum in V5G2. The number

Table 3: Interaction effect of gibberellic acid and genotypes of daisy (Aster amellus L.) for vegetative growthparameters.

Treatment Plant height Plant spread Number of Number of(cm) (cm) leaves/plant suckers/

plant

EW NS

V1G1 61.30 34.40 34.94 80.64 3.74

V1G2 61.02 32.75 33.06 64.00 4.00

V2G1 52.10 30.14 33.70 96.34 5.00

V2G2 44.50 30.10 24.90 88.69 4.70

V3G1 35.00 26.00 23.74 55.30 2.90

V3G2 33.70 25.00 21.80 49.50 2.58

V4G1 51.30 25.82 22.84 47.40 5.93

V4G2 41.80 24.70 21.40 45.18 4.60

V5G1 48.30 25.60 24.98 40.02 12.80

V5G2 36.40 22.20 20.59 35.10 10.50

V6G1 51.80 28.34 29.80 55.80 3.95

V6G2 47.00 27.00 25.75 52.55 2.80

V7G1 44.00 30.23 23.10 69.20 3.20

V7G2 38.50 27.20 22.62 59.30 2.70

V8G1 52.20 30.60 26.20 55.50 3.30

V8G2 45.00 29.50 25.20 52.00 2.70

V9G1 39.00 30.00 26.64 65.50 2.50

V9G2 30.95 28.50 27.16 62.12 1.50

Mean 45.21 28.23 26.02 59.67 4.41

SE.m± 1.92 1.74 1.48 2.82 0.47

CD (P=0.05) 5.74 5.19 4.40 8.41 1.39

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Raveendra, Y.C., Shirol, A.M., Harish S. and Kulkarni, B.S.

of leaves per plant was recorded maximum inV2G1, followed by V2G2. Whereas, minimumnumber of leaves were noticed in V5G2.Themaximum number of suckers were produced inV5G1 . While, minimum suckers were recordedin V9G2 . This variation in the treatments dueto interaction of gibberellins on genotypes ofdaisy, some of the genotypes showed thesignificant response to the gibberellins. It is inconformity with that of the findings of Swaroopet al. (2007)

Flowering and yield parameters also differedsignificantly with interaction of gibberellic acidand genotypes (Table 5). The days to firstflowering and days to 50 per cent floweringwere significantly proponed in V9G1 , thetreatment V9G2was on par for 50 per centflowering. The early flowering might be due to

the interaction of gibberellins on particulargenotypes. The results are in conformity withthat of Swaroop et al. (2007). The productionof spikes per plant and per hectare was foundto maximum in V8G1, followed by V1G1 andV4G1. Whereas, the minimum spikes per plantand per hector were recorded in V9G2. The spikelength was maximum in V1G1, followed byV1G2. While, minimum spike length wasnoticed in V9G2. Variation in spike yield andspike length might be due to interaction ofgibberellins on particular genotypes for thegenetic makeup. Similar findings were reportedby Swaroop et al. (2007).

Finally, it can be concluded that gibberellic acidwill helps to influence the vegetative, floweringand yield parameters of daisy. Among thegenotypes Purple Multipetal produced

Table 4: Effect of gibberellic acid and performance of geotypes of daisy (Aster amellus L.) for flowering, yield andquality parameters.

Treatment Days to Days to Number of Number of Spike lengthfirst flowering 50% flowering spikes/ plant spikes/ ha (cm)

(Days) (Days)

Gibberellic acid (G)

G1 62.00 71.39 4.59 5.10 54.89

G2 66.89 75.08 3.74 4.16 51.94

SE.m± 0.32 0.40 0.09 0.10 0.35

CD at (P=0.05) 0.95 1.21 0.27 0.30 1.03

Genotypes (V)

V1 61.50 72.00 4.85 5.39 66.37

V2 66.00 71.50 4.00 4.44 52.10

V3 63.25 71.75 4.15 4.61 41.40

V4 67.25 72.75 4.70 5.22 51.20

V5 84.50 92.25 3.90 4.33 61.90

V6 65.00 73.50 4.20 4.67 61.45

V7 62.50 68.25 4.50 5.00 53.48

V8 60.00 74.75 4.95 5.50 53.68

V9 50.00 62.39 2.25 2.50 39.15

Mean 64.44 72.23 4.16 4.62 53.41

SE.m± 0.68 0.86 0.19 0.22 0.73

CD (P=0.05) 2.01 2.56 0.58 0.64 2.19

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Table 5: Interaction effect of gibberellic acid and genotypes of daisy (Aster amellus L.) for flowering, yield andquality parameters.

Treatment Days to first Days to 50% Number of Number of Spikeflowering flowering spikes/ spikes/ length

(Days) (Days) plant ha (cm)

V1G1 55.50 70.00 5.50 6.11 67.24V1G2 67.50 74.00 4.20 4.67 65.50V2G1 64.50 69.00 4.20 4.67 55.20V2G2 67.50 74.00 3.80 4.22 49.00V3G1 60.50 68.50 4.70 5.22 42.58V3G2 66.00 75.00 3.60 4.00 40.21V4G1 66.00 71.00 5.30 5.89 54.00V4G2 68.50 74.50 4.10 4.56 48.40V5G1 82.00 90.50 4.20 4.67 62.90V5G2 87.00 94.00 3.60 4.00 60.90V6G1 61.50 71.00 4.40 4.89 61.30V6G2 68.50 76.00 4.00 4.44 61.60V7G1 60.50 68.00 4.80 5.33 54.85V7G2 64.50 68.50 4.20 4.67 52.10V8G1 59.00 72.50 5.70 6.33 55.15V8G2 61.00 77.00 4.20 4.67 52.21V9G1 48.50 62.03 2.50 2.78 40.75V9G2 51.50 62.75 2.00 2.22 37.55Mean 64.44 72.23 4.16 4.62 53.41SE.m± 0.95 1.21 0.27 0.31 1.04CD (P=0.05) 2.85 3.62 0.82 0.91 3.10

maximum vegetative growth and genotype starwhite daisy produces maximum suckers perplant. The genotype dwarf pink was found toearly to flowering. The flower yield wasmaximum in White tall, followed by purple longpetal, purple multipetal and dark purple. Thespike length was maximum in genotype PurpleMultipetal. Whereas, in interaction V1G1, V1G2performed best for vegetative growthparameters. While, V2G1 and V2G2 wasproduced maximum leaves per plant. The suckerproduction was maximum in V5G1

REFERENCES

Girish, R. 2011. Studies on effect of growth regulatorson growth and yield of daisy (Aster amellus L.)cv. Dwarf Pink. M. Sc Thesis Univ. Hort. Science,Bagalkot.

Girish, R., Shirol, A.M., Reddy, B.S., Kulkarni, B.S., Patil,V.S. and Krishnamurthy, G.H. 2012, Growth, qualityand yield characteristics of daisy (Aster amellusL.) cv. Dwarf Pink as influenced by different plantgrowth regulators. Karnataka Journal of AgricultureSciences, 25(1) : 163-165.

Kulkarni, B.S. 2003. Evaluation of varieties and effect ofplanting date and growth regulators on performanceof chrysanthemum (Dendranthema indicum) Ph.DThesis, Univ. Agric. Sci., Dharwad.

Patil, V.S. 1998. Standardization of production technologyin daisy (Aster amellus L.). Ph.D. Thesis, Univ.Agric. Sci., Dharwad.

Shekhara, K.H. 2010. Evaluation of daisy (Aster amellusL.) genotypes for growth and yield parameters. M.Sc. Thesis, Univ. Agric. Sci., Dharwad.

Suma. 2003. Evaluation of daisy genotypes. M.Sc.Thesis, Univ. Agric. Sci., Dharwad.

Swaroop, K. Singh, K.P. and Raju, D.V.S. 2007.Vegetative growth, flowering and seed charactersof African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.). JournalOrnamental Horticulture, 10(4) : 268-270.

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K.S. Tomar, Sunil Kumar, R.C. Shakywar and Mahesh PathakJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 70-74, 2013

Effect of spacing and nitrogen levels on growth,flowering and yield parameters of African marigold

(Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Dwarf OrangeK.S. TOMAR1, SUNIL KUMAR, R.C. SHAKYWAR and MAHESH PATHAK2

Landscaping Unit, College of Fisheries, Central Agricultural University, Lembucherra, Tripura-7992101College of Horticulture & Forestry, Central Agricultural University,

Pasighat-791102, Arunachal Pradesh2Krishi Vigyan Kendra East Siang, College of Horticulture & Forestry, Central Agricultural University,

Pasighat-791102, Arunachal Pradesh

ABSTRACT

The present investigation was carried out to study the response of spacing and nitrogen level ongrowth, flowering and yield parameters on African marigold cv. Dwarf Orange at HorticulturalFarm, College of Fisheries, Lembuchera, Tripura during 2011-12. Three levels of spacing viz. 50× 40 cm, 50 × 30 cm and 40 × 30 cm, four levels of nitrogen doses viz. 0 kg/ha (control), 300 kg/ha, 400 kg/ha and 500 kg/ha were used respectively, for investigation. The experiment was laidout in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications. The results revealedsignificant response in vegetative growth, flowering and yield characters with a spacing of 40 ×30 cm and nitrogen doses with 400 kg/ha. Maximum number of primary branches per plant, plantheight, number of leaves per plant, increased flower stalk length, maximum flower diameter,number of flowers per plant, weight of single flower and yield was associated with spacing 40 ×30 cm except number of secondary branches per plant and days taken for 50 per cent flowering.Nitrogen dose at 400 kg/ha showed highest number of primary and secondary branches, numberof leaves per plant, flower diameter, number of flowers per plant, weight of single flower andyield except plant height and flower stalk length.

Key words: African marigold, spacing, nitrogen, growth, yield.

INTRODUCTION

Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) is one of the mostimportant flower crop commercially grown inIndia. Marigold gains popularity among flowergrowers due to its easy cultivation, wideadaptability to diverse soil and climaticconditions, habit of profuse flowering, shortduration to produce marketable flowers, widespectrum of attractive colours, shape and goodkeeping quality. In India, marigold flowers areextensively used in religious and socialfunctions. Plant spacing and nutritional

management are the prerequisite factors forenhancing yield and quality of flower. Amongthe major nutrients, nitrogen plays vital role forgrowth and development of any plant. Anadequate supply of nitrogen is associated withvigorous vegetative growth and deep greencolour of leaves. Spatial arrangement andnitrogen have major effects on plant growth anddevelopment. Therefore, the present study wasundertaken to find out optimum space relationand nitrogen dose for increasing yield and flowerquality of African marigold cv. Dwarf Orange.

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Effect of spacing and nitrogen levels on growth, flowering and yield parameters of african marigold


The field experiment was conducted during rabi2011-12 at horticultural farm, College ofFisheries, Lembuchera, Tripura. Three spacingviz., 50 × 40 cm (S1), 50 × 30 cm (S2) and 40 ×30 cm (S3), four level of nitrogen doses viz., 0kg/ha (N1) as control, 300 kg/ha (N2), 400 kg/ha (N3) and 500 kg/ha (N4) were used forinvestigation. The experiment was laid out inFactorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD)with three replications. Farm yard manure(FYM) @ 10 tons/ha; 80 kg of phosphorus/haand 80 kg/ha of potassium were applied to allthe plots as recommended by Sreekanth et.al.(2006). Observations were made on variousvegetative growth, flowering and yieldparameters i.e. number of primary branches perplant, number of secondary branches per plant,plant height, number of leaves per plant, daystaken for 50% flowering, flower stalk length,flower diameter, number of flowers per plant,weight of single flower and yield of flower. Thedata collected were analyzed using statisticalmethods as suggested by Panse and Sukhatme(1995).


Significant response in growth, flowering andyield characters were noticed at different spacingand level of nitrogen doses. Observationrecorded at different stages of plant growth onprimary and secondary branches and plant heightat different plant spacing gave significant resultsin comparison to control. Data presented intable-1 revealed that increased number ofprimary branches per plant was associated withspacing 40 × 30 cm (8.79) followed by spacing50 × 30 cm (7.89). Highest number of primarybranches per plant (8.66) was noticed withnitrogen dose at 400 kg/ha which was at parwith nitrogen at 300 kg/ha (8.51). The lowest

number of primary branches per plant wasobserved in control. Significant interaction wasfound for number of primary branches per plantand associated with S3N3 (9.03) followed byS1N2 (8.83) and S2N3 (8.40).

Maximum number of secondary branches wasrecorded with spacing 50 × 30 cm (20.45)followed by spacing 40 × 30 cm (17.73). While,nitrogen dose at 400 kg/ha showed highernumber of secondary branches per plant (18.67)followed by control (17.98) which was at parwith nitrogen doses 300 kg/ha and 500 kg/ha,respectively. However, S2N3 responded to highernumber of secondary branches per plant (22.30).The linear growth of the plant increased withincrease in plant population. Similar trend wasalso reported by Nair et al., (1985).

Maximum plant height was observed at spacing40 × 30 cm (8.40 cm) which was at par with 50× 40 cm (8.36 cm). The minimum plant heightwas observed at spacing 50 × 30 cm (7.73),whereas, significant plant height was found withS1N1. The maximum vegetative growth withincreasing levels of nitrogen might be due tothe fact that nitrogen is a constituent of proteinwhich helps in division and enlargement of cell,thereby, enhancing plant growth. These findingswere in accordance with earlier work of Chadhaet al. (1999), Acharya and Dashora (2004) andSharma et al. (2009).

The maximum number of leaves per plant wasobserved at spacing 40 × 30 cm (407.69)followed by 50 × 40 cm (390.47). The nitrogendose at 400 kg/ha produced more number ofleaves per plant (441.47) followed by control(390.44). The interaction was significant andmaximum number of leaves per plant wasobtained in treatment S2N3.

Adequate application of nitrogen resulted invigorous vegetative growth of the plant and

72

K.S. Tomar, Sunil Kumar, R.C. Shakywar and Mahesh Pathak

imparted deep green colour to the foliage whichfavoured photosynthetic activity of the plant andgreater synthesis of carbohydrate in the leaves.These results were in close conformity with theobservations made by Agarwal et al. (2002) inmarigold.

Data presented in Table 2 revealed thatsignificant response in flowering characters wasobserved among the different treatmentcombinations due to spacing and nitrogen doses.Minimum days taken for 50 per cent floweringwas noticed in spacing 50 × 40 cm (38.16 days)

followed by 50 × 30 cm (39.93 days) and 40 ×30 cm (40.51 days), respectively. Earliness in50 per cent flowering was associated withcontrol plot (37.72 days) followed by nitrogenat 300 kg/ha (40.00 days). However, minimumdays taken for 50 per cent flowering wereobtained in treatment combination S1N1 (34.23days). Similar findings were recorded byKaruppaiah and Krishna (2005) in Frenchmarigold.

Increased length of flower stalk was noticed inspacing of 40 × 30 cm (7.06 cm) followed by

Table 1: Effect of spacing and nitrogen level on growth parameters of African marigold.

Treatment No. of primary No. of secondary Plant No. ofbranches per branches per height leaves per

plant plant (cm) plant

SpacingS1 (50 x 40 cm) 8.69 15.98 8.36 390.47S2 (50 x 30 cm) 7.89 20.45 7.73 389.35S3 (40 x 30 cm) 8.79 17.73 8.54 407.69

Mean 8.46 18.05 8.21 395.84CD (P=0.05) 0.19 0.61 0.48 12.01

Nitrogen*N1 (0 kg/ha) 8.23 17.98 8.52 390.44N2 (300 kg/ha) 8.51 17.68 7.86 368.52N3 (400 kg/ha) 8.66 18.67 8.22 441.47N4 (500 kg/ha) 8.43 17.89 8.24 382.91

Mean 8.46 18.05 8.21 395.84CD (P=0.05) 0.22 0.70 0.55 13.87

InteractionS1N1 8.73 15.23 8.97 387.33S1N2 8.83 13.23 8.25 364.07S1N3 8.53 16.47 8.03 411.27S1N4 8.66 18.97 8.20 399.20S2N1 7.73 20.33 8.16 394.40S2N2 7.73 19.40 6.72 290.00S2N3 8.40 22.30 7.86 489.47S2N4 7.70 19.77 8.16 383.53S3N1 8.23 18.37 8.43 389.60S3N2 8.97 20.40 8.60 451.50S3N3 9.03 17.23 8.75 423.67S3N4 8.93 14.93 8.37 366.00

Mean 8.46 18.05 8.21 395.84CD (P=0.05) 0.39 1.21 0.95 24.02

*Control.

73

Effect of spacing and nitrogen levels on growth, flowering and yield parameters of african marigold

Table 2: Effect of spacing and nitrogen level on flowering parameters of African marigold.

Treatment Days taken Flower stalk Flower Number of Weight of Yield offor 50% length (cm) diameter flowers/ single flower flower

flowering (cm) plant (g) (q/ha)

SpacingS1 (50 x 40 cm) 38.16 6.13 5.94 38.09 7.83 150.88S2 (50 x 30 cm) 39.93 6.46 6.07 41.49 7.88 226.78S3 (40 x 30 cm) 40.51 7.06 6.25 43.74 8.48 309.89

Mean 39.53 6.55 6.09 41.11 8.06 229.18CD (P=0.05) 0.67 0.34 0.14 1.05 0.51 15.92

Nitrogen*N1 (0 kg/ha) 37.72 6.81 5.82 38.74 7.99 210.91N2 (300 kg/ha) 40.00 6.68 6.05 39.20 7.91 218.91N3 (400 kg/ha) 40.33 6.52 6.30 43.51 8.47 251.09N4 (500 kg/ha) 40.08 6.20 6.18 42.98 7.87 235.82

Mean 39.53 6.55 6.09 41.11 8.06 229.18CD (P=0.05) 0.78 0.39 0.16 1.21 0.59 18.39

InteractionS1N1 34.23 6.67 5.97 37.57 8.37 158.68S1N2 39.03 6.20 5.99 35.77 7.66 137.67S1N3 39.97 5.83 5.98 38.20 8.03 156.13S1N4 39.40 5.85 5.82 40.83 7.25 151.06S2N1 39.03 6.31 5.77 36.90 7.95 205.54S2N2 40.47 6.34 5.74 36.40 6.74 168.97S2N3 40.13 6.75 6.30 46.60 8.72 278.07S2N4 40.10 6.44 6.46 46.07 8.09 254.55S3N1 39.90 7.44 5.72 41.77 7.65 268.50S3N2 40.50 7.49 6.41 45.43 9.33 350.10S3N3 40.90 6.97 6.62 45.73 8.68 319.08S3N4 40.73 6.33 6.25 42.03 8.28 301.87

Mean 39.53 6.55 6.09 41.11 8.06 229.18CD (P=0.05) 1.35 0.68 0.28 2.10 1.02 31.86

*Control.

50 × 30 cm (6.46 cm). The maximum flowerstalk length of African marigold was observedin control (6.81 cm) followed by nitrogen doseof 300 kg/ha (96.68 cm). However, in theinteraction treatment combination S3N2 showedhighest flower stalk length (7.49 cm).

The application of nitrogen at optimum levelattributed to acceleration in development ofgrowth and reproductive phases. However,higher nitrogen content might have acceleratedprotein synthesis, thus promoting early floralprimordial development. The results were in

confirmation with Anuradha et al. (1990)reported that flowering and yield characterssignificantly influenced with higher level ofnitrogen.

Significant response was obtained in flowerdiameter. Maximum flower diameter wasobserved with spacing 40 × 30 cm (6.25 cm)followed by 50 × 30 cm (6.07 cm). The nitrogendose at 400 kg/ha showed highest flowerdiameter (6.30 cm), whereas, increased flowerdiameter was noticed in treatment combinationS3N3 (6.62 cm).

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K.S. Tomar, Sunil Kumar, R.C. Shakywar and Mahesh Pathak

The spacing 40 × 30 cm produced highestnumber of flowers per plant (43.74) followedby spacing 50 × 30 cm (41.49). Maximumnumber of flowers per plant was noticed withnitrogen at 400 kg/ha (43.51) followed by 500kg/ha (42.98). In interaction, treatmentcombination S2N3 showed increased number offlowers per plant (46.60).

Increased weight of single flower was obtainedwith spacing 40 × 30 cm (8.48 g) followed by50 × 30 cm (7.88g), while, nitrogen at 400 kg/ha showed maximum weight of single flower(8.47 g) followed control (7.99 g) which was atpar with nitrogen at 300 kg/ha and 500 kg/ha,respectively. However, treatment combinationS3N2 produced increased weight of single flower(9.33 g).

Significant response was witnessed for yieldattributes, highest yield was obtained withspacing 40 × 30 cm (309.89 q/ha) followed by50 × 30 cm (226.78 q/ha). Application ofnitrogen at 400 kg/ha showed maximum yieldof flower (251.09 q/ha) followed by 500 kg/ha(235.82 q/ha). However, treatment combinationS3N2 produced maximum yield of flower(350.10 q/ha). Similar findings were observedby Srivastava et al. (2002), who reported higherflower yield with closer spacing in marigold.The increase in yield with increasing level ofnitrogen application could be attributed toincrease in vegetative growth and number ofbranches per plant. These results were inconformity with Agarwal et al. (2002) whoreported significantly higher yield with higherlevel of nitrogen application in marigold.

Thus, during the present entire experimentation,plant spacing 40 × 30 cm and nitrogen dose @400 kg/ha was found to be beneficial for bettergrowth, flowering and yield of African marigold.These findings can be incorporated to get higher

productivity in commercial cultivation ofAfrican marigold.

REFERENCES

Acharya, M.M. and Dashora, L.K. 2004. Response ofgraded levels of nitrogen and phosphorus onvegetative growth and flowering in African marigold(Tagetes erecta L.) Journal of OrnamentalHorticulture, 7(2) : 179-183.

Agarwal, S., Agarwal, N., Dixit, A. and Yadav R.N. 2002.Effect of N and K2O on African marigold inChattisgarh region. Journal of OrnamentalHorticulture, 5(1) : 86.

Anuradha, K., Pampapathy, K. and Narayan, N. 1990.Effect of nitrogen and phosphorus on flowering,yield and quality of marigold. Indian Journal ofHorticulture, 36(6) : 321-323.

Chadha, A.P.S., Rathore, S.V.S. and Ganesh, R.K. 1999.Influence of N and P fertilization and ascorbic acidon yield and flowering of African marigold cv.Double Giant. South Indian Horticulture, 47(1-6) :342-344.

Karuppaiah, P. and Krishna, G. 2005. Response ofspacing and nitrogen levels on growth floweringand yield characters of French marigold (Tagetespatula Linn.), Journal of Ornamental Horticulture,8(2) : 96-99.

Nair, S.R., Gopi Kumar, K. and Santha, K.K. 1985. Effectof planting time and spacing on growth, flowerproduction and seed yield in marigold. OrissaJournal of Horticulture, 13 : 14-20.

Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1995. Statisticalmethods for agricultural workers, Indian Council ofAgricultural Research, New Delhi, 158.

Sharma, D.P., Gupta Nisith and Ahirwar Manoj Kumar.2009. Growth, yield and quality of African marigold(Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda asinfluenced by spacing, nitrogen and phosphoruslevels. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, 12(1) :68-72.

Sreekanth, P., Padma, M., Chandrasekhar R. andMadhulety T.Y. 2006. Effect of planting time,spacing and nitrogen levels on yield and quality ofAfrican marigold (Tagetes erecta Linn.) Journal ofOrnamental Horticulture, 9(2) : 97-101.

Srivastava, S.K., Singh, H.K. and Srivastava, A.K. 2002.Effect of spacing and pinching on growth andflowering of ‘Pusa Narangi Gainda’ marigold(Tagetes erecta L.) Indian Journal of AgriculturalSciences, 72(10) : 611-612.

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Studies on influence of nutrient and growth regulator interactions on growthJournal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 75-85, 2013

Studies on influence of nutrient and growthregulator interactions on growth, yield and quality of

Dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17A. PATNAIK, M. KANNAN, M. GANGA and S. VINCENT

Department of Floriculture and Landscape Gardening HorticulturalCollege and Research Institute, T.N.A.U.

Coimbatore-641003

ABSTRACT

An investigation was made to assess the effect of foliar spray of nutrients and growth regulatorson growth, yield and quality in Dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17. The growth parameters like plantheight, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, number of shoots per plant, number of pseudobulbsper plant, number of back bulbs per plant, shoot diameter and internodal length and number ofkeikis, the floral parameters like days to flower bud initiation, number of spikes per plant, spikelength, number of florets per spike, floret size, spike longevity on plant, pedicel length and postharvest vase life recorded the highest value in the treatment which received NPK nutrientsof 20:10:10 at 0.2% (T6). The investigation revealed that the foliar application ofNPK 20:10:10 (0.2%) at weekly intervals improved the growth, yield and quality. However, foliarapplication of NPK combined with growth regulators viz., GA3 200 ppm and BA 400 ppm did nothad significant effect on growth and flower production of this orchid species.

Key words: Nutrients, growth regulators, orchid.

INTRODUCTION

Orchids are the most fascinating and beautifulflowers in God’s creation, are unique with theirwide variety in exotic colour, form, size, shape,amazingly long-lasting flowers and theiradaptability to diverse habitats, from terrestrialto epiphytic. They belong to the familyOrchidaceace, which is the largest family of theflowering plants. Taxonomically, it representsthe most highly evolved family among mono-cotyledons with 600-800 genera and 25,000-35,000 species.

Orchids are the major players in the multibilliondollar floriculture trade of the world. Today,orchids such as, cymbidium, dendrobium,

oncidium and phalaenopsis are marketedglobally and the orchid industry has contributedsubstantially to the economy of many ASEAN(Association of the South East Asian Nations)countries. The orchid cut flower industry isgrowing at the rate of 10-20 per cent annually(Pradhan, 2001). The USDA reported that in theUnited States, the wholesale value of pottedorchids increased from $47 million in 1996 to$139 million in 2005 (Anonymous, 2009). Theworld’s production of pot orchids wereforecasted to continue increasing at a steadypace to reach a total of 305 million pots by 2014(Wang, 2004). Hence, research on orchids isneeded to support this fast expanding andprofitable industry.

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A. Patnaik, M. Kannan, M. Ganga and S. Vincent

The dendrobium hybrids which thrive wellunder Coimbatore condition are Sonia 17, Sonia28 (purple and white flowers), Emma White,Sakura Pink etc. The cultivation of dendrobiumsis very profitable enterprise; commercialcultivation is not picked in India, due to lack ofinfrastructural facilities and varied agro-climaticconditions which obstruct the cultivation in openconditions. Hence, the present investigation hasbeen carried out in green house.

Orchid hybrids require optimum amount ofnutrients since their growth and flowering ratesare slow. The type of nutrients, their quality andfrequency of application play an important roleon the quality of flower. Conventionalnutritional application in liquid form has beenfound to be very effective in orchids. The majorconstraints encountered in orchid cultivation aregrowing conditions, long pre blooming period,susceptibility to pest and diseases etc.

The dry weight of Dendrobium phalaenopsiswas severely affected by omission of N, P, K,Ca or Mg in nutrient solution and leavesdropped before deficiency symptoms appeared(Chin, 1966). Low temperature or short daytreatment can affect the level of endogenousregulators (Evans, 1971; Zeevaart, 1975); it

appears that the flowering response to lowtemperature or short day treatment in thesympodial orchids could have been resultedfrom change in the levels of endogenous growthregulators. Therefore, it is essential to providecontinuous application of nutrients in optimumproportion and also growth regulators toproduce sufficient growth, yield and qualityspike.

Hence, a systematic study was undertaken inDendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17(D. Caesar xD. Tomie Drake), through the use of differentcombination of nutrients and growth regulatorsto maintain productivity and quality.


The investigation 17” was conducted in agreenhouse with 75% shade at the BotanicGardens of Department of Floriculture andLandscaping, Horticultural College andResearch Institute, Tamil Nadu AgriculturalUniversity, Coimbatore during a period fromAugust 2011 to April 2012. The plants wereplanted in specially made 15- 20 cm earthenpots with 10-11 drainage holes at the bottomand sides. The media containing a mixture oftile pieces, charcoal and brick pieces at 1:1:1

Fig.1: Effect of nutrients and growth regulators on plant height (cm) of Dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17

77

Studies on influence of nutrient and growth regulator interactions on growth

were used. The major nutrients N: P2O5: K2Oat different ratios were applied as foliar spraysduring vegetative and flowering stages andfrequency of application is at 7 days interval.Nutrient combinations were made usingammonium nitrate, orthophosphoric acid andpotassium nitrate. The plant growth regulatorssuch as GA3 200 ppm and BA 400 ppm wereapplied as foliar sprays and frequency ofapplication is at 30 days interval. Theexperiment was laid out in a CompletelyRandomized Design (CRD) with 17 treatments,2 replications with 5 plants per replication and3 plants per replication were selected forrecording observations.

Treatments Details

Notation Treatment

T1 (Control) NPK 10:10:10(0.1%)

T2 NPK 20:20:20(0.2%)

T3 NPK 20:20:20(0.4%)

T4 NPK 20:20:10 (0.2%)

T5 NPK 20:20:10 (0.4%)

T6 NPK 20:10:10 (0.2%)

T7 NPK 20:10:10 (0.4%)

T8 NPK 10:20:10 (0.2%)

T9 NPK 10:20:10 (0.4%)

T10 NPK 20:20:20 (0.2%) + GA3 200 ppm + BA 400 ppm

T11 NPK 20:20:20 (0.4%) + GA3 200 ppm + BA 400 ppm

T12 NPK 20:20:10 (0.2%) + GA3 200 ppm + BA 400 ppm

T13 NPK 20:20:10 (0.4%) + GA3 200 ppm + BA 400 ppm

T14 NPK 20:10:10 (0.2%) + GA3 200 ppm + BA 400 ppm

T15 NPK 20:10:10 (0.4%) + GA3 200 ppm + BA 400 ppm

T16 NPK 10:20:10 (0.2%) + GA3 200 ppm + BA 400 ppm

T17 NPK 10:20:10 (0.4%) + GA3 200 ppm + BA 400 ppm

The observations on growth parameters likeplant height, number of leaves per plant, leafarea, number of shoots per plant, number ofpseudobulbs per plant, number of back bulbsper plant, shoot diameter and internodal lengthand the floral parameters like days to flowerbud initiation, number of spikes per plant, spike

length, number of florets per spike, floret size,spike longevity on plant, pedicel length and postharvest vase life of spikes were taken. Theexperimental data were analysed statistically bythe ANOVA (analysis of variance) technique(Panse and Sukhatme, 1985).

RESULTS

The data generated from the pot cultureexperiment were pooled to study the plantgrowth, flower initiation and nutrientcomposition of dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17plants as influenced by the application ofnutrients and growth regulators from plantingto nine months after planting.

Vegetative Growth Parameters

Observations have been recorded on plantheight, number of leaves per plant, number ofshoots per plant, number of pseudo bulbs perplant, number of back bulbs per plant, shootdiameter and number of keikis per plant at 45days intervals.

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Table 1: Effect of nutrients and growth regulators on growth parameters of Dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17 at270 DAP.

Treatments plant leaf No. of No. of No. of shoot internodal No. ofheight area shoots/ pseudobulbs backbulbs/ dia length keikis/(cm) (cm–2) plant per plant plant (cm) (cm)/shoot plant

T1 23.35 26.31 6.83 2.17 0.67 3.43 3.58 -

T2 23.45 28.14 7.50 2.83 0.83 3.60 3.90 -

T3 24.15 34.92 6.50 3.33 0.67 4.07 4.10 -

T4 23.65 31.18 7.50 2.67 1.00 3.83 3.75 -

T5 23.55 29.21 6.50 1.83 1.00 3.50 3.65 -

T6 24.65 41.05 9.00 4.00 1.00 4.52 4.25 -

T7 24.35 38.46 8.33 3.00 0.83 4.35 4.12 -

T8 23.55 28.56 7.50 2.50 0.50 3.67 3.65 -

T9 23.47 27.29 6.33 2.00 1.33 3.48 3.53 -

T10 20.12 19.90 3.00 0.67 3.00 3.22 3.05 1.00

T11 19.92 18.60 3.00 0.67 3.00 3.12 2.65 1.00

T12 20.12 19.36 3.00 0.67 3.00 3.16 2.92 0.83

T13 20.00 18.76 3.00 0.33 3.00 3.08 2.73 0.33

T14 20.18 21.45 3.00 1.00 3.00 3.30 3.32 1.33

T15 20.12 20.70 3.00 0.67 3.00 3.22 3.22 0.50

T16 19.97 19.11 3.00 1.00 3.00 3.12 2.83 0.67

T17 19.77 18.33 3.00 0.33 3.00 3.10 2.50 0.67

Mean 22.02 25.96 5.29 1.75 1.87 3.51 3.40 0.79

SE (d) 0.04 0.32 0.18 0.16 0.30 0.07 0.04 NS

CD 0.09 0.68 0.38 0.34 0.63 0.15 0.08 NS(P = 0.05)

Fig. 2: Effect of nutrients on flower bud initiation (Days) of Dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17

The application of different levels of nutrientsand growth regulators has significantlyinfluenced the plant growth and the progressive

increase was due to the overall treatment effectand is presented in the Table-1.

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Table 2: Effect of nutrients on floral parameters of Dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17

Treatments Flower bud Numberof Spike Number Floret Flower Pedicelinitiation spike per length of florets size spike length (Days) plant (cm) per spike (cm) longevity (cm)

(Days)

T1 172.50 1.00 28.00 5.00 6.50 x 6.00 43.00 4.00

T2 141.17 1.00 23.17 4.83 6.50 x 6.00 31.00 3.67

T3 116.67 1.33 45.67 7.67 8.00 x 7.33 70.67 4.00

T4 141.33 1.00 39.83 6.50 8.00 x 7.84 51.67 4.33

T5 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0.00

T6 112.83 1.50 57.50 10.50 8.42 x 8.33 73.17 4.58

T7 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0.00

T8 170.17 1.00 45.50 8.83 7.33 x 6.83 66.00 4.00

T9 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0.00

Mean 94.96 0.76 26.63 4.81 4.97 x 4.70 37.28 2.73

SE (d) 0.008 0.014 0.002 0.008 0.004 0.002 0.003

CD (P = 0.05) 0.018 0.032 0.004 0.019 0.011 0.005 0.007

The maximum plant height (24.65 cm), leaf area(41.05 cm2), no. of shoots (9.00) werepseudobulbs (4.00) observed in the treatmentT6 after 270 DAP (41.05 cm2). Whereas leastnumber of backbulbs (0.50) produced in thetreatment T8. At 270 DAP, the highest shootdiameter (4.52 cm) and internodal length pershoot (4.25 cm) observed in the treatment T6.At 270 DAP with highest number of keikis perplant (1.33) observed in the treatment T14.

Floral parameters

Floral characters were recorded for the plantstreated with nutrients starting from T1 to T9whereas combination of nutrient and growthregulator treated plants had not shown anyflowering and tabulated in the Table-2.

It was observed that the plants of treatment T6was found to be the earliest with 112.83 daysfor flower bud initiation. No flowering wasnoticed in treatments T5, T7 and T9 till 270 DAP.Treatment T6 had the highest number of spikesper plant on the plant (1.50), longest spike lengthon the plant (57.50 cm), the highest number of

florets per spike (10.50), the largest floret sizeon the plant (8.42 × 8.33 cm), the highest spikelongevity on the plant (73.17 days) and thelongest pedicel length (4.58 cm).

Vase life

The spikes harvested from the best treatment(T6) and control (T1) was kept for vase lifestudy. The maximum vase life till 50 % floretwithered (26 days) and total vase life till lastfloret withered (33 days) recorded in the spikesharvested from T6.

Discussion

In dendrobium, application of NPK nutrients indifferent ratios along with growth regulators(GA3 and BA) has been reported to influencein growth, yield and quality. Further, sincedendrobium is an epiphytic orchid, it respondswell to application of nutrients given throughfoliar application, rather than uptake by roots.

Vegetative growth parameters

In the present investigation, it has been observedthat the plant height was significantly promoted

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by the application of different nutrient sources.The maximum plant height was observed withthe application of 0.2% of NPK 20:10:10. Thereason for increased growth with this treatmentmight be the influence of balanced nutritionalsupplements to the plant. Nitrogen being a chiefconstituent of protein for the formation ofprotoplasm, providing metabolic energy to celldivision and cell enlargement. It is also animportant constituent of amino acids and co-enzymes which are of considerable importancefor the growth and development. The results ofthe present study are in conformity with theearlier studies (Swapna, 2000 and Ramya, 2007)in dendrobium hybrid cv. Sonia 17. However,the increase in nitrogen concentration beyond0.2 per cent did not produce any improvementon plant height. This might be due to the factthat increase in nitrogen above required levelsustain the auxin metabolism which couldinduces only fleshy growth of very soft shoots(White, 1990).

The results of the present study indicated thatincreased leaf area was expressed in thetreatment T6 with of 0.2% of NPK 20:10:10 at270 DAP. This indicates that the highercarbohydrate accumulation in leaves facilitatedby favourable nutrients has led to higher

photosynthetic activities, resulting in anincreased leaf area. These findings are inconformity with those by Sobhana and Rajeevan(1995) in Cymbidium traceanum.

The higher number of shoots per plant and alsomaximum number of pseudobulbs per plant wasrecorded with 0.2% of NPK 20:10:10 wasattributed due to the activation of better Nnutrition leading to lateral buds and productionof new lateral shoots. As an invariablecomponent of proteins, and therefore ofprotoplasm, nitrogen promotes the lateralgrowth. Similar results were observed incymbidium ‘Pharoah Pathfinder’ by Nichols(1982), wherein he obtained increased numberof shoots with increase in nitrogen supply.Similar observation was reported by Nair (2001)in dendrobium cv. Sonia 17.

The number of leafless backbulbs was less inthe treatment with 0.2% of NPK 10:20:10applied on 270 DAP. Lesser numbers of leaflessbackbulbs were produced at the higher dosagesof P. Contradictory observations weredocumented by Bichsel et al. (2008) indendrobium cv. Red Emperor ‘Prince’, whereNPK ratio with higher N and K content wasfound to enhance leaves.

Fig. 3: Effect of nutrients on number of spike per plant of Dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17

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A larger diameter of the shoot and intermodallength per shoot was noticed when NPKnutrients given at 0.2% of NPK 20:10:10. Inorchids, a good correlation has been observedbetween shoot girth and flower production asreported by White (1990). Nitrogen might beresponsible for enhancing the translocation ofmetabolites and thereby increasing the growth.The diameter of pseudobulbs was reported toincrease with increase in nitrogen supplied inphalaenopsis hybrids Sylba, Nopsya and Abylos(Amberger Ochsenbauer, 1996).

Application of inorganic nutrients and growthregulators exhibited significant influence on thenumber of keikis per plant. The number of keikisper plant was the highest in the treatment of0.2% of NPK 20:10:10 + GA3 200 ppm + BA400ppm. Similar observations were reported byStewart and Button (1977) in paphiopedilum andDale et al.(1996) in day neutral strawberries.

In the present study, application of nutrientsalongwith the growth regulators GA3 (200 ppm)and BA (400 ppm) however, resulted in reducedgrowth and development and gave a negativeeffect as compared to control. However,application of GA3 200 ppm and BA 400 ppmresulted in production of higher number ofbackbulbs and keikis per plant, which can beused as a propagating material.

BA sprayed plants were healthier compared toGA3 sprayed plants. Since BA reduces theproduction of ethylene. Hence, indicating thatBA is having an influence on reduction in leafsenescence and shedding (Pileuk et al., 1992).

The defoliation in GA3 sprayed plants mightbe due to the epiphytic nature of the cropwhich receives more photosynthates for themaintenance of plant biomass through foliage.However the foliar spray of GA3 might haveantagonistic effect which is triggering the ABA

metabolism in leaves hindering the sufficientsupply of nitrogen to the foliage, causingyellowing and defoliation. Similar reports wereobtained by Matsumoto (2006) who reportedfoliar damage in Miltoniopsis and Bivins (1968)indicated that effect of gibberellins however,effectively defoliated the plants at 250 or 500ppm concentration, speeded up the senescenceof leaves and delayed new growth at higherconcentration.

Floral parameters

The potential of exogenous application ofnutrients is to cause physiological and bio-chemical changes thereby influencing allreproductive characters have been reported bymany earlier workers. A balanced supply ofnitrogen might have promoted the translocationof phytohormones to the shoot which probablyinduced flower bud initiation. This confirms theearlier findings of Binisha (2003) inphalaenopsis.

In the present work, application of nutrients0.2% of NPK 20:10:10 had significantlypromoted number of spikes per plant and alsoincreased the spike length. The result issupported by Yoneda et al. (1999) who observedthat low N rates resulted in shorter and thinnerstalks and fewer flowers in odontoglossum andWang and Gregg (1994) in phalaenopsis.

In the present work, application of nutrient 0.2%of NPK 20:10:10 had significantly resulted inmore number of florets per spike, increasedfloret size and pedicel length. This indicated thevigorous photosynthetic activities of the leaf dueto the application of inorganic nutrients whichmight have led to the efficient partitioning ofphotosynthates towards sink. This is in line withthe observation by Bhattacharjee (1982) inAerides multiforum.

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Fig. 4: Influence of nutrient on flowering in dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17

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Fig. 5: Influence of nutrient and growth regulators on dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17

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The treatment of 0.2% of NPK 20:10:10 resultedin highest spike longevity on the plant. Itdepends on the number of florets per spike,number of days taken for opening of thesuccessive flowers (Wang and Lee, 1994).Thetreatment of 0.2% of NPK 20:10:10 also resultedin the longest vase life. Similar results wereobtained in dendrobium orchid at Kahikuchiand in cymbidium orchid at Kalimpong(Anonymous; 2010-11a and 2010-11b).

The result of the present study have indicatedthat foliar application of 0.2% of NPK @20:10:10 at weekly intervals led to improvedvegetative growth and development which inturn lead to earliness of flower bud initiation(112.83 days) and increased flower yield (1.50spikes per plant).Application of NPK nutrientsalong with GA3 200 ppm and BA 400ppm leadto defoliation and reversal towards vegetativegrowth of dendrobium orchid cv. Sonia 17.Hence, the growth regulators GA3 200 ppm andBA 400 ppm can be applied to dendrobiumplants which are required to produce more ofpropagating materials namely keikis andbackbulbs.

The cost economic analysis revealed that thebest treatment T6 (0.2% of NPK 20:10:10)registered the highest gross income, net returnsand benefit cost ratio (0.15) whereas benefit costratio was 0.08 for control T1 (0.1% of NPK10:10:10).

REFERENCES

Amberger, O.S. 1996. Nutrition and post productionperformance of Phalaenopsis pot plants. Proc.International symposium on growing media andplant nutrition in horticulture, Freising, Germany.450 : 105-112.

Anonymous. 2009. United States Department ofAgriculture (USDA). Floriculture crops 2008summary. Agri. Stat. Board, Washington, D.C.

Anonymous. 2010–11a. AICRP Annual Report,Horticulture Research station, Assam AgriculturalUniversity, Kahikuchi. 399.

Anonymous. 2010–11b. AICRP Annual Report, Regionalresearch station (Hill Zone), Uttar Banga KrishiViswa Vidyalaya, Kalimpong. 400.

Bhattacharjee, S.K. 1982. Effect of nutrition on growthand flowering of Aerides multiflorum Rchb.Lalbaugh J., 27(3) : 13-18.

Bichsel, R.G., Starman, T.W. and Wang, Y.T. 2008.Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium requirementsfor optimizing Growth and Flowering of the NobileDendrobium as a Potted Orchid. Hort. Science,43(2) : 328-332.

Binisha, S. 2003. Supplementary effect of Bio-fertilizersin Dendrobium. M.Sc. thesis, Kerala AgriculturalUniversity, Thrissur, Kerala, 49.

Bivins, J.L. 1968. Effect on growth regulating substanceson the size of flower and bloom date of CymbidiumSicily Grandee. American Orchid Society Bulletin,37 : 385-387.

Chin, T.T. 1966. Effect of major nutrient deficiencies onDendrobium phalaenopsis hybrids. AmericanOrchid Society Bulletin, 35 : 549-554.

Dale, A., Elfving, D.C. and Chandler, C.K. 1996.Benzyladenine and gibberellic acid increase runnerproduction in day neutral strawberries. HortScience. 31(7) : 1190-1194.

Evans, L.T. 1971. Flower induction and the florigenconcept. Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 22 :365.

Kaushik, P. 1983. Ecological and Anatomical Marvels ofthe Himalayan Orchids. Today and Tomorrow’sPrinters and Publishers, New Delhi, India, 123-139.

Matsumoto, T.K. 2006. Gibberellic Acid and Benzyladenine Promotes Early Flowering and VegetativeGrowth of Miltoniopsis Orchid Hybrids. Hort Science41(1) : 131-135.

Nair, U.S. 2001. Endogenous and exogenous regulationof growth and development in Dendrobium cv.Sonia 17 and Sonia 28. M.Sc. (Hort.) thesis, KeralaAgricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala, 71.

Nichols, D.G. 1982. Nutritional aspect in the culture ofcymbidium. Australian Orchid Review, 47(2) : 106-108.

Panse, U.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1985. Statisticalmethods for agricultural workers. 4th ed, ICARpublication, New Delhi, 97-164.

Pileuk, C., Watthong, S. and Teweesomboom, W. 1992.Effect of cytokinin application in storage life ofdendrobium plants under low temperature. FourthAsia Pacific Orchid Conference, Chiangmai,Thailand, Abstracts, 78.

Pradhan, U. C. 2001. Orchid commerce in India-guidelines for new century. In: Pathak, P., Singh,

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B. and Singh, M.P. (eds.), Orchids Science andCommerce. Dehradun, India, 509-514.

Ramya, P. 2007. Micronutrient studies in OrchidDendrobium cv. Sonia 17. M.Sc (Hort.) thesis, TamilNadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India.

Sobhana, A. and Rajeevan, P.K. 1995. Foliar applicationof nutrient formulations in Cymbidium traceanum.Journal Orchid Society of India. 9(1-2) : 45-50.

Stewart, J. and Button, J. 1977. A note on lateral buddevelopment in Paphiopedilum. American OrchidSociety Bulletin, 46(10) : 934.

Swapna, S. 2000. Regulation of growth and flowering inDendrobium cv. Sonia 17. Ph.D. thesis, KeralaAgricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala, 235.

Wang, Y.T. 2004. Flourishing market for potted Orchids.Flower Tech 7(5) : 2-5.

Wang, Y.T. and Gregg, L.L. 1994. Medium andFertilizer affect the performance of PhalaenopsisOrchids during flowering cycles. Hort. Science,29 : 269-271.

Wang, Y.T. and Lee, N.1994. A new look for an old crop:Potted blooming orchids. Available:http://primera.tamu.edu/orchids/paper1.htm.

White, J. 1990. Beginner ’s series-Part II: Mediamania revisited. American Orchid Society Bulletin,59(2) : 114-122.

Yoneda, K., Suzuki, N. and Hasegawa, I. 1999. Effect ofMacro element concentration on growth, floweringand nutrient absorption in an Odontoglossumhybrid. Hort. Science, 80 : 259-265.

Zeevaart, J.A.D. 1975. Physiology of flower formation.Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 27 : 321.

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Sanghamitra et al.Journal of Ornamental Horticulture. 16 (1&2): 86-94, 2013

Effect of different sources and levels of potassium onvegetative, reproductive parameters of African marigold

(Tagetes erecta Linn.) cv. ‘Maxima Yellow’M. SANGHAMITRA, V. VIJAYA BHASKAR and P. SUBBARAMAMMA*

Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture,*Department of Plant Physiology

Horticultural College and Research Institute, Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University,Venkataramannagudem-534101, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted with different sources (muriate of potash and sulphate of potash)and levels (40, 80, 120, 160, 200 and 240 kg/ha) of potassium with control (0 kg/ha of potassium)in a randomised block design at the Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture.Horticultural College and Research Institute, Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University,Venkataramannagudem during kharif 2014-15 to investigate the influence of potassium sourcesand the optimum dose of potassium fertiliser on the vegetative, reproductive growth and floweryield of African marigold cv. ‘Maxima Yellow’. A gradual increase in the level of potassiumapplication from 0 to 240 kg/ha significantly increased all the vegetative and reproductive growthparameters thereby significantly increased the flower yield. However, it was observed that therewere no significant differences between the sources of potassium i.e., KCl and K2SO4 applied atthe same level in most of the vegetative and reproductive parameters except for flower yield.

Key words: Marigold, vegetative growth, reproductive growth, flower yield.

INTRODUCTION

African marigold (Tagetes erecta Lin.) which iscommercially grown for its loose flowers is animportant flower crop grown under open fieldconditions during kharif and rabi seasons inAndhra Pradesh. African marigold is mainlygrown for its loose flower production due toavailability of wide spectrum of attractivecolours, shapes and sizes with free floweringnature apart from its good keeping quality hasattracted the attention of flower growers. It isalso used in the ornamental gradeningparticularly to grow as a border plant and in theflower beds. The major plant nutrients viz.,nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium play an

important role in increasing the vegetative aswell as reproductive growth. Among theimportant plant nutrients potassium is anessential element which plays a crucial role inplant’s life. Potassium is generally required tothe plants in the elemental form to energise morethan 50 different enzymes (Atwell, et al. 1999).It reduces lodging in cereals and maintains theselectivity and integrity of the cell membrances.Further, potassium helps in the translocation ofstarch and sugars, increases the plant rootgrowth, reduces leaf wilting and maintains thecell turgidity there by improves the droughttolerance in plants. Potassium reduces the rateof respiration, prevents energy losses, helps in

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Effect of different sources and levels of potassium on vegetative, reproductive parameters of African marigold

protein synthesis and uplifts the protein contentof plants (Alam and Naqvi, 2003). Manyresearchers have reported that potassiumdeficiency in plant leads to stunted growththereby limit the flowering because the plantcells cannot divide-in to allow the plant growth,there by reduced flower yield and quality werenoticed. Keeping all these opinions in view, thepresent investigation was undertaken to studythe influence of different sources and levels ofpotassium on vegetative and reproductiveparameters of African marigold cv. ‘MaximaYellow’.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The experiment was carried out in a sandy loamsoil (organic carbon 0.24%, 186 kg ha–1

available nitrogen, 32.5 kg ha–1 availablephosphorus and 215 kg ha–1 availablepotassium) with thirteen treatments consistingof two sources (KCI and K2SO4) and six levels(40, 80, 120, 160, 200 and 240 kg/ha) ofpotassium along with control (0 kg/ha ofpotassium) treatment in a randomised blockdesign with three replications at the HorticulturalCollege and Research Institute, Dr. Y.S.R.Horticultural University, V.R. Gudem, WestGodavari district during kharif 2014-15. Thegross plot size was 3.0 × 3.0 m and thetreatments were allotted randomly in each plot.

Marigold seeds were sown in protrays filled witha mixture of soil, neem cake and vermicompost.One month age old seedlings of uniform sizeand vigour were used for transplanting in themain field at a distance of 40 cm in betweenthe two rows and 30 cm between plant to plantwith in the row. Immediately after transplantinga light irrigation was given to the crop for betterestablishment of the seedlings in the field. Welldecomposed farm yard manure @ 20 tonnes perhectare was applied to all the plots uniformly

in the last ploughing and incorporated into thesoil before transplanting. Two sources ofpotassium i.e., muriate of potash (MOP) andsulphate of potash (SOP) were appliedseparetely in different levels. The fertilizerswere applied in five split doses at 15 daysinterval after transplanting (15, 30, 45, 60 and75 days after transplanting) as per the treatmentdetails. Plots without any dose of potassiumapplication were considered as control. Entiredose of phosphorus (200 kg ha–1) was appliedas a basal dose just before transplanting andthe nitrogen (200 kg ha–1) was applied in fivesplits at every 15 days interval along with theapplication of potassium.


The data pertaining to the effect of differentsources and levels of potassium on vegetativegrowth parameters of African marigold cv.‘Maxima Yellow’ were presented in Table 1. Agradual increase in plant height was observedwith the application of graded levels andsources of potassium i.e., from 0 to 240 kg/ha.Among all the treatments, control treatmentrecorded significantly the lowest plant height(32.86 cm) which was at par with potassiumapplied at the rate of 40 kg/ha. Potassiumapplied at the rate of 240 kg/ha in the form ofK2SO4 has recorded significantly the highestplant height (47.86 cm). Further, it was observedthat there were no significant differencesbetween the sources of potassium i.e., muriateof potash and sulphate of potash at the samelevel of potassium application. Based on theresults obtained it could be concluded that therewere no significant differences in the plantheight with regard to the sources of potassiumapplied at the same level. Further, it was noticedthat the plant height increased with increasedlvel of potassium application. It may beconcluded that the beneficial effects of

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potassium in promoting the vegetative growthof marigold plant may be explained from thefact that potassium played a vital role in thecell division and cell differentiation in the plantsystem. Further more, it may be concluded thatunder the conditions of potassium deficiency orinadequate application of potassium led tostunted growth in plants. Collins and Duke(1981) have opined that potassium increased thecarbon exchange rate thereby enhanced thecarbohydrate movement in the plant systemwhich finally led to an increase in themeristematic activity in the plant system (Vermaand Verma, 2007) thereby leading to astimulating effect on the plant height.

Among all the treatments, control recordedsignificantly the lowest (6.60 and 18.53) numberof primary and secondary branches per plantrespectively whereas, potassium applied at therate of 240 kg/ha in the form of sulphate of

potash has recorded significantly the highestnumber of primary branches per plant (11.73)and potassium applied at the rate of 240 kg/hain the form of muriate of potash has recordedsignificantly the highest number of secondarybranches per plant (30.86). Further, it wasnoticed that there were no significant differencesbetween the sources of potassium i.e., muriateof potash and sulphate of potash at the samelevel (240 kg/ha) of potassium applied. Basedon the results evidenced, it may be concludedthat number of primary branches per plantincreased gradually from 0 to 240 kg/hairrespective of the sources of potassium applied.It could be due to an increased supply ofphotosynthates to the meristematic and cambialtissue. The potassium nutrient might haveenhanced the carbohydrate supply to themeristematic tissue which led to an increase inthe cell division and cell elongation therebyincreased the number of primary branches and

Table 1: Effect of different sources and levels of potassium on vegetative growth traits of African marigold cv.‘Maxima Yellow’.

Treatments Plant No. of No. of Plant Leaf area per plant (cm2)height primary secondary spread(cm) branches branches (cm) 30 days 60 days 90 days 120 days

40 kg K2O/ha as KCl 33.56 8.86 19.10 41.20 162.20 194.05 231.13 51.20

40 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 33.80 8.63 19.80 40.90 162.46 194.13 234.76 51.63

80 kg K2O/ha as KCl 35.93 9.40 21.16 43.16 172.20 204.53 246.26 53.03

80 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 35.56 9.21 20.60 43.60 172.86 209.10 246.10 53.63

120 kg K2O/ha as KCl 37.73 9.50 23.63 45.53 178.03 217.36 258.03 63.46

120 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 37.76 9.73 24.03 45.06 178.13 218.00 258.33 63.66

160 kg K2O/ha as KCl 41.10 10.20 26.60 47.86 184.10 231.46 273.16 70.06

160 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 41.23 10.10 26.33 47.60 184.66 233.33 273.23 70.23

200 kg K2O/ha as KCl 43.00 10.83 27.96 48.36 192.16 238.03 295.50 76.56

200 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 43.46 10.96 27.26 48.33 192.13 240.26 294.16 76.96

240 kg K2O/ha as KCl 47.03 11.66 30.86 49.40 199.16 248.43 301.03 82.53

240 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 47.86 11.73 30.83 49.50 199.76 250.93 305.16 82.76

Control (0 Kg K2O/ha) 32.86 6.60 18.53 40.06 160.56 170.26 203.76 46.53

Mean 39.29 9.80 21.90 45.40 179.88 219.22 263.12 64.79

S.Em+ 1.17 0.43 1.82 1.44 7.44 7.94 7.87 3.43

CD (P=0.05) 3.44 1.26 5.36 4.24 21.84 23.34 23.10 10.07

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secondary branches per plant (Armstrong et al.(1988). The present results were in confirmitywith the findings of Pal and Ghosh (2010) andKishore et al. (2010) in African marigold.

Among all the treatments, control recordedsignificantly the lowest (40.06 cm) plant spreadwhich was at par with potassium applied at therate of 40 kg/ha, whereas, potassium applied atthe rate of 240 kg/ha in the form of sulphate ofpotash has recorded significantly the highestplant spread (49.50 cm). Further, it was observedthat there were no significant differencesbetween the sources of potassium i.e., muriateof potash and sulphate of potash at the samelevel. It was also observed that there were nosignificant differences among the treatmentswith the application of potassium at the rate of160, 200 and 240 kg/ha. Based on the resultsobtained it may be concluded that there wereno significant differences between the sourcesof potassium application at the same level onthe plant speread. Plant spread was increasedwith increased level of potassium applicationdue to an increase in the formation of numberof primary and secondary branches per plantthereby an increased supply of photosynthatesto the meristematic and cambial tissues whichultimately enhanced the vegetative growth ofthe plant.

Significant differences were observed in leafarea with different sources and levels ofpotassium applied in African marigold cv.‘Maxima Yellow’. A gradual increase in leaf areaper plant was observed with graded levels ofpotassium applied under different sources. At30, 60, 90 and 120 days after transplanting,control recorded significantly the lowest(160.56, 170.26, 203.76 and 46.53 cm2,respectively) leaf area per plant, whereas,potassium applied at the rate of 240 kg/ha inthe form of sulphate of potash has recorded

significantly the highest leaf area (199.76,250.93, 305.16 and 82.76 cm2, respectively) perplant and further it was at par with the potassiumapplied at the rate of 200 kg/ha, irrespective ofthe source of potassium. Based on the resultsobtained, it may be concluded that there wereno significant differences between the sourcesof potassium for leaf area per plant at the samelevel on all the days of observations recorded.Further, the leaf area per plant graduallyincreased with an increase in the level ofpotassium application. A gradual increase in theleaf area per plant was also observed since 30days after transplanting to 90 days aftertransplanting. It could be due to an increase inthe photosynthetic activity and supply of photoassimilates to the meristematic and cambialtissue thereby increased the number of cells andproduced more number of leaves per plant.Maintenance of high turgor potential inthe cellleads to cell expansion thereby increased the leafsize and ultimately the leaf area per plant. Shahet al. (2014) also reported similar observationswith leaf area in Zinnia elegans. A drasticdecrease in the leaf area per plant was observedin all the treatments at 120 days aftertransplanting which might be due to ageing ofthe plant.

Various reproductive growth parameters werefound to increase with increased level ofpotassium applied from 0 to 240 kg/hairrespective of the source of potassium used(Table 2). Among all the treatments, controlrecorded significantly the lowest number of daystaken for first flower bud emergence (30.0 days),whereas potassium applied at the rate of 240kg/ha recorded significantly the highest numberof days taken for first flower bud emergencewhich was at par with the potassium applied atthe rate of 200 kg/ha without any significantdifferences between the sources of potassiumapplied. Based on the results obtained, it may

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be concluded that number of days taken to firstflower bud emergence were increased graduallywith graded levels of application of potassium.It might be due to the involvement of potassiumin the structural development of the plant viz.,formation of primary and secondary branchesand new leves thereby delayed the first flowerbud emergence when compared of contoltreatment. Pal and Ghosh (2010) also expressedsimilar opinions while working the Africanmarigold.

Among all the treatments, control recordedsignificantly the lowest number of days takento 50% flowering (42.33 days), whereas,application of potassium at the rate of 240 kg/ha recorded significantly the highest number ofdays taken to 50% flowering (56.93) which wasat par with the application of potassium at the

rate of 200 kg/ha. Based on the results obtained,it could be concluded that potassium applied atthe rate of 0 kg/ha recorded significantlyminimum number of days to 50% flowering.The delay to reach to 50% flowering with regardto increased level of potassium applicationmight be due to the competition between thevegetative and reproductive growth phases forphoto assimilates and diversion of major partof photo assimilates towards promotion ofvegetative growth phase with higher levels ofpotassium application.

Among all the treatments, control recordedsignificantly the lowest flower diameter (6.73cm), whereas, potassium applied at the rate of240 kg/ha has recorded significantly the highestflower diameter without any significantdifferences between the sources of potassium.

Table 2: Effect of different sources and levels of potassium on reproductive growth traits of African marigold cv.‘Maxima Yellow’.

Treatments Days taken Days Flower Single Fresh Dry Days No. ofto first taken to diameter flower weight of weight of taken to flowers

flower bud 50% (cm) weight flowers/ flowers/ harvest peremergence flower- (g) plant (g) plant (g) flowers plant

(days) ing (days) (days)

40 kg K2O/ha as KCl 29.00 43.10 7.96 7.15 22.41 3.36 50.53 17.36

40 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 31.00 43.30 7.81 7.22 22.18 4.07 50.33 18.00

80 kg K2O/ha as KCl 31.30 45.33 8.15 7.65 22.50 4.06 52.22 20.70

80 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 31.60 46.66 8.27 7.65 22.79 5.13 52.87 21.76

120 kg K2O/ha as KCl 32.00 48.00 8.33 7.61 24.19 4.22 53.19 23.10

120 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 32.00 48.00 8.45 7.84 24.26 6.17 53.93 25.83

160 kg K2O/ha as KCl 32.30 50.00 9.15 7.79 25.18 5.93 54.62 27.73

160 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 33.30 50.33 9.16 7.98 25.01 7.29 54.21 28.33

200 kg K2O/ha as KCl 34.60 54.13 10.08 8.07 26.89 6.15 56.03 31.66

200 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 34.00 54.83 10.19 8.35 26.98 7.34 56.15 32.73

240 kg K2O/ha as KCl 36.00 57.70 11.24 8.66 28.29 7.89 57.10 34.13

240 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 37.60 56.93 10.41 8.90 28.10 8.65 57.70 36.63

Control (0 Kg K2O/ha) 30.00 42.33 6.73 7.12 21.27 2.95 49.75 16.26

Mean 32.66 49.28 8.91 7.84 24.62 5.63 53.74 25.70

S.Em+ 1.16 1.93 0.31 0.34 0.95 0.51 1.65 1.14

CD (P=0.05) 3.42 5.69 0.92 1.00 2.80 1.51 4.85 3.34

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It could be concluded that significant differenceswere not found between the sources ofpotassium applied at the same level of potassiumapplication on flower diameter. The flowerdiameter was found increased with an increasein the level of potassium application. It couldbe due to an expansion of cells in the flowerpetals by maintaining high turgor potential aswell as transport of photo assimilates fromleaves to flowers might have led to an increasein the flower size as well as flower diameter asreported by Wong (1989).

Among all the treatments, control recordedsignificantly the lowest single flower weight(7.12 g), whereas, potassium applied at the rateof 240 kg/ha recorded significantly the highestsingle flower weight (8.90 g) which was at parwith the potassium applied at the rate of 200kg/ha irrespective of the source of potassium. Itcould be concluded that there were nosignificant differences between the sources ofpotassium applied at the same level. Further,single flower weight increased with an increaseinthe level of potassium application. Mengel andKirby (1980) reported that potassium plays amajor role in the plant system which includeswater economy and energy metabolism apartfrom its active role in enzyme activity and cationtransport across the cell membrances. Potassiumalso increases the carbon exchange rate therebyenhancing the carbohydrate movement (Collinsand Duke. 1981) and consequently stimulatingthe reproductive growth and thereby increasingthe flower diameter by translocation ofphotosynthates into the floral organs.

Among all the treatments, control recordedsignificantly the lowest fresh weight and dryweight of flowers per plant (7.12 and 2.95 grespectively) which were at par with thepotassium applied at the rate of 40 kg/ha,irrespective of the source of potassium applied.

However, potassium applied at the rate of 80kg/ha in the form of muriate of potash was alsoat par with control. It may be concluded thatthere were no significant differences in the freshweight and dry weight of the flower per plantbetween the sources of potassium applied at thesame level. The fresh weight and dry weight ofthe flower were found increased with an increasein the level of potassium applied. In general,potassium plays a major role in the watereconomy, energy metabolism and enzymeactivity of plant tissues thereby showed apositive effect on the fresh weight and dryweight of the flower.

Among all the treatments control recordedsignificantly the lowest number of days takento harvest the flowers (49.75 days) which wasat par with the potassium applied at the rate of40 kg/ha irrespective of the source of potassium.Howerver, potassium applied at the rate of 80kg/ha in the form of muriate of potash was alsofound at par with control. Application ofpotassium at the rate of 240 kg/ha has recordedsignificantly the highest number of days takento harvest the flowers which was at par withthe application of potassium at the rate of 200,160 and 120 kg/ha without any significantdifferences between the sources of potassium.However, application of potassium at the rateof 80 kg/ha in the form of sulphate of potashwas also found to be at par with the potassiumapplied at the rate of 240 kg/ha. Based on theresults obtained it may be concluded thatnumber of days taken to harvest the flowersgradually increased with graded levels ofapplication of potassium irrespective of thesources. Sharma et al. (2013) also reportedsimilar observation in Barleria cristata.

A gradual increase in the number of flowers perplant was observed with graded levels ofapplication of potassium under different sources.

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Among all the treatments, control recordedsignificantly the lowest number of flowers perplant (16.26). Potassium applied at the rate of240 kg/ha has recorded significantly the highestnumber of flowers per plant without anysignificant differences between the sources ofpotassium. Further, it was noticed that nosignificant differences were observed betweenthe sources of potassium applied at the samelevel. Based on the results obtained it may beconclued that production of increased numberof primary and secondary branches, increaseddry matter production and partitioning of drymatter into the floral organs might haveincreased the number of flowers per plant.

The analyzed data pertaining to yield arepresented in Table 3. A gradual increase inflower yield was observed with graded levelsof application of potassium under differentsources. Among all the treatments, controlrecorded significantly the lowest flower yieldper plant (131.70 g). Application of potassium

at the rate of 240 kg/ha in the form of sulphateof potash has recorded significantly the highestyield per plant (239.86 g) which was at par withthe application of potassium at the rate of 200kg/ha. Based on the results obtained it may beconcluded that there were no significantdifferences in the flower yield per plant betweenthe sources of potassium applied at the samelevel. The flower yield per plant has increasedwith an increase in the level of potassiumapplication which was in conformity with theresults obtained by Kishore et al (2010) inAfrican marigold.

A gradual increase in the yield per plot wasobserved with graded levels of application ofpotassium under different sources. Among allthe treatments control recorded significantly thelowest flower yield per plot (5.62 kg).Application of potassium at the rate of 240 kg/ha in the form of sulphate of potash has recordedsignificantly the highest flower yield per plot(14.03 kg). Potassium applied in the form of

Table 3: Effect of different sources and levels of potassium on flower yield of African marigold cv. ‘Maxima Yellow’.

Treatments Yield per plant (g) Yield per plot (kg) Yield per hectare (q)

40 kg K2O/ha as KCl 145.26 6.39 102.00

40 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 147.80 7.42 118.33

80 kg K2O/ha as KCl 150.90 7.74 123.33

80 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 156.30 8.11 129.33

120 kg K2O/ha as KCl 164.43 8.55 136.00

120 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 173.36 9.23 147.00

160 kg K2O/ha as KCl 184.60 9.82 156.66

160 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 190.30 10.21 162.66

200 kg K2O/ha as KCl 210.83 10.95 174.66

200 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 222.66 11.85 189.00

240 kg K2O/ha as KCl 228.96 12.51 199.66

240 kg K2O/ha as K2SO4 239.86 14.03 223.66

Control (0 Kg K2O/ha) 131.70 5.62 89.33

Mean 180.53 9.42 150.00

S.Em+ 10.92 0.44 7.21

CD at 5% 32.06 1.31 21.17

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muriate of potash has recorded significntly thelowest yield per plot when compared to sulphateof potash applied at the same level. Further, itwas interesting to notice that the higher levelof potassium applied in the form of muriate ofpotash has produced significantly no differentyields with the next lower level of treatment ofpotassium applied in the form of sulphate ofpotash except with the application of potassiumat the rate of 40 kg/ha. Based on the resultsobtained it may be concluded that there weresignificant differences inthe flower yield per plotbetween the sources of potassium applied at thesame level. It was also noticed that the floweryield per plot increased with an increase in thelevel of potassium applied. The flower yield perplot increased with increased level of potassiumfertilizer application under different sources. Theflower yield per plot was significantly higherwith the application of sulphate of potash thanmuriate of potash. It might be due to the factthat the completely water soluble nature ofsulphate of potash needs no furthertransformation in the soil and could easily beabsorbed by the plants. Further, due to itssynergistic effect with other elements sulphurcould increase the absorption of potassium or itcould react with nitrogen and potassium (Faraget al. 1990). Sulphur helps in the transformationof energy and activation of enzymes in thecarbohydrate metabolism and subsequently playsa greater role in the partitioning of photassimilates and helps to increase the plant height(47.86 cm), primary branches per plant (11.73),plant spread (49.50 cm), single flower weight(8.90 g), number of flowers per plant (36.63)and finally increased the flower yield per plot(14.03 kg). Pal and Ghosh (2010) also reportedsimilar findings earlier in African marigold.

Significant differences were observed in theflower yield per hectare with different sourcesand levels of potassium application in African

marigold cv. ‘Maxima Yellow’. A gradualincrease in flower yield per hectare wasobserved with graded levels of application ofpotassium under different sources. Among allthe treatments, control recorded significantly thelowest flower yield per hectare (89.33 q) whichwas at par with the application of potassium atthe rate of 40 kg/ha in the form of muriate ofpotash. Application of potassium at the rate of240 kg/ha in the form of sulphate of potash hasrecorded significantly the highest flower yieldper hectare (223.66 q). Potassium applied in theform of muriate of potash has recordedsignificantly the lowest flower yield per hectarewhen compared to sulphate of potash appliedat the same level. Further, it was also interestingto notice that the higher level of potassiumapplied in the form of muriate of potash hasproduced significantly no different flower yieldsper hectare with the next lower level oftreatment of potassium applied in the form ofsulphate of potash except with the applicationof potassium at the rate of 40 and 80 kg/hawhich were at par with 80 and 120 kg/ha.Potassium applied in the form of muriate ofpotash has recorded significantly the lowerflower yields per hectare when compared to theapplication of sulphate of potash at the samelevel. Based on the results obtained it could beconcluded that there were significant differencesbetween the sources and levels of potassiumapplication on flower yield per hectare. Thesulphate of potash has recorded significantly thehigher flower yield per hectare in comparisonto the muriate of potash applied. It is anestablished fact that the solubility of sulphateof potash per se higher than muriate of potash.Hence, the readily available form has increasedthe translocation of photo assimilates in to thefloral organs thereby increased flower yield perhectare was recorded. Another reason forincreased flower yield with sulphate of potash

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might be due to absence of chloride toxicitywhich was normally met with muriate of potash.Similar findings were also reported earlier byKumar and Kumar (2008) in banana, Singh etal., (2008) and Pushkar and Rathore (2011) inAfrican marigold.

Based on the results obtained on severalvegetative, reproductive and flowr yieldparameters it may be concluded that applicationof potassium at the rate of 200 kg/ha in eitherform of potassium can be recommended forincreased flower yield in African marigold cv.‘Maxima Yellow’.

REFERENCES

Agarwal S.N., Agrawal A.D. and Yadav, R.N. 2002. Effectof N and K2O in African marigold in Chattisgarhregion. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture, 5(1) :86.

Alam S.M. and Naqvi, M.H. 2003. Potassium and its rolein crop growth. Dawn Newspaper, Dec. 10.

Awell B., Kridemann, P. and Turnbull, C. 1999. Plants inAction : Adaptation in nature, performance incultivation. Macmillan Education. South Yarra,Victoria, Australia.

Collins M. and Duke, S.H. 1981. Influence of potassiumfertilizer rate on photo synthesis and N-fixation ofalfalfa. Crop. Science. 21 : 481-85.

Farrag A.A., Shehata, A.A. and Kandil, M.M. 1990. Theeffect of phosphorus and sulphur fertilizers on seedprotein of broad bean plants. In: Proceedings ofMiddle East Sulphur Symposium. 12-16th, February,Cairo., 61-71.

Kishore G.R., Arya, J.K. and Ghalot, P.K. 2010. Effect of

different levels of nitrogen, phosphorus andpotassium on growth and flowering of Africanmarigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda. ProgressiveAgriculture, 82(6) : 941-945.

Kumar A.R. and Kumar, N. 2008. Studies on efficacy ofsulphate of potash (SOP) on the physiological, yieldand quality parameters of banana cv. Robusta(Cavendish-AAA). EurAsian Journal of BioSciences, 2(12) : 102-109.

Mengel K. and Kirby, E.A. 1980. Potassium in cropproduction. Advances in Agronomy, 33 : 59-110.

Pal P. and Ghosh, P. 2010. Effect of different sourcesand levels of potassium on growth, flowering andyield of African marigold (Tagetes erecta Linn.) cv.‘Siracole’ Indian Journal of Natural Products andResources, 1(3) : 371-375.

Pushkar N.C. and Rathore, S.V.S. 2011. Effect ofnutrients and bio-inoculants on growth, floweringbehaviour and yield of African marigold (Tageteserecta L.) var. “Pusa Narangi Gainda”. Journal ofprogressive Horticulture, 43(2) : 225-227.

Shah S.N.M., Ali, Noor-ul-Amin, A. Shah, M. and Khan,A. 2014. Potassium influence on flowering andmorphology of Zinnia elegans. International Journalof Farming and Allied Sciences, 3(4) : 377-381.

Sharma P., Thakur, P., Gupta, Y.C. and Dhiman, S.R.2013. Effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassiumon growth and flowering of Barleria cristata Linn.Indian Journal of Horticulture, 70(3) : 442-447.

Singh Y., Verma, P. and Verma, J.P. 2008. Effect of NPK,spacing and MH on flower yield of African marigold(Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Nagangi Gainda.Annals of Horticulture, 1(1) : 27-31.

Verma S.K. and Verma, M. 2007. A text book of plantphysiology, biochemistry and biotechnology. S.Shand anc Company Ltd., New Delhi, 110-112.

Wong A., Birusingh, K., Chien, P. and Eisinger, W. 1989.Regulation of carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus)flower development. Acta Horticulturae, 261: 35-50.

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Halevy, A.H. and Mayak, S. 1981. Senescence and post-harvestphysiology of cut flowers. Horticultural Reviews, 3 : 59-142.

Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1969. Statistical Methods for AgriculturalWorkers (2nd Edn.).ICAR, New Delhi, P. 381.

Reid, M.S. and Wu, M.J. 1991. ethylene in flower developeent andsenescence, In: The Plant Hormone ethylene (eds. Matto A.K. and Suttle)J.C. CRC Press Boca Raton, Florida, USA : 381-395 (for Indian Publishers,country name not to be indicated).

Leonhardt, K. W. 1977. Chromosome numbers and crops compatibility inthe genus Cymbidium and some related tropical genera (Orchidaceae).Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaii, Hawaii, United States ofAmerica (for Indian universities, country name not to be indicated).

Sambandhamurthy, S. and Appavu, K. 1980. Effect of the chemical oncolouring of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) Proc. of National Seminaron Production Technology for Commercial Flower Crops, TNAU,Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, pp. 73-75.

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