Effect of biofertilizers on growth and flowering in French marigold cv. Pusa Arpita

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to study the response of French marigold cv. Pusa Arpita to biofertilizers during the period from September 2014 to January 2015. There were 7 treatments comprising different combinations of VAM and Azotobacter replicated thrice. Among the biofertilizer treatments T6 (VAM 2.0 g/plant + Azotobacter 1.5 kg/ha) was significantly superior in terms of vegetative growth parameters as it recorded the maximum values of plant height (47.04 cm), number of primary branches per plant (24.30), number of secondary branches per plant (45.06) and plant spread (60.83 cm). This treatment was found superior in flowering parameters also recording the earliest flower bud appearance (53.59 days), earliest 50% flowering (68.67 days), longest flowering duration (76.92 days), maximum flower diameter (56.54 mm), highest number of flowers per plant (278.67), highest individual flower weight (8.19 g), highest flower yield per plant (884.35 g) and highest flower yield per plot (13.00 kg). This treatment was found superior in seed parameters also as it recorded earliest seed ripening (93.21 days), maximum number of seeds per flower (150.60), maximum weight of seeds per flower (0.89 g), maximum 100 seed weight (0.51 g) and maximum seed yield per plant (126.67 g).