Effect of soil and foliar application of organic nutrients on growth and yield of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.)

Abstract

An experiment was carried out on bottle gourd during 2022 to study the effect of soil and foliar application of organic nutrients on growth and yield of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.). The field experiment was laid out in randomized block design with fifteen treatments which were replicated thrice. The organic manures used in the experiment were farm yard manure (FYM) @ 25 t ha-1, vermicompost (VC) @ 5 t ha-1 and enriched manure (EM) @ 1 t ha-1 as soil application along with consortium biofertilizers (CBF) @ 2 kg ha-1 and foliar application of biostimulants viz., panchagavya (3%), effective microbial inoculants (2%), Humic power (1%) and Jeevamrutha (2%) were tested. Result revealed that the growth parameters viz., vine length, number of leaves, leaf length, leaf breadth and leaf area were recorded highest in the treatment that received the application of enriched manure 1 t ha-1 combined with consortium biofertilizers (CBF) 2 kg ha-1 and humic power (1%) as foliar were applied. The yield attributes viz., the number of fruits plant-1, fruit length, fruit girth, fruit weight and fruit yield plant-1 were registered the highest in the treatment which received the application of vermicompost 5 t ha-1 combined with CBF 2 kg ha-1 and humic power (1%) as foliar application in both the seasons respectively.