Vol. 11, Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Manimaran P and Ganga M

Abstract:
A study was conducted to standardize the plant spacing for a clonal selection (Acc.Jn-1) of the underutilized jasmine, Jasminum nitidum evolved at TNAU. The experiment was laid out in RBD with 7 treatments and 4 replications. Among the seven levels of plant spacing, (S₇) 2.00 x 1.50 m spacing accommodating 3330 plants/ha proved its superiority with respect to most of the parameters. The growth parameters recorded the highest values in this treatment which included plant height (46.40 and 69.31 cm), plant spread in N-S and E-W directions (29.13 and 57.13 cm and 31.43 and 61.43 cm respectively), number of primary branches plant^-1 (5.58 and 9.74) and secondary branches plant^-1 (17.16 and 29.41) at180 and 360 days after planting when compared to the other treatments. This treatment also recorded the highest values for the yield parameters viz., weight of hundred flower buds (17.897 g), single bud weight (0.1789 g) and maximum annual flower yield plant^-1 (1319.69 g) respectively. This treatment proved superior also for flower quality parameters with the maximum values for flower bud length (without corolla tube) (2.057 cm), total flower bud length (3.962 cm), corolla tube length (1.905 cm) and flower bud width (0.519 cm). This treatment also proved superior for physiological parameters viz., maximum leaf area (2040.96 and 6783.52 cm²), leaf area index (2.229 and 1.933), total chlorophyll content (1.3868 and 1.4957 mg/g) and total phenol content (6.007 and 8.995 mg/g) recorded at180 and 360 days after planting. When compared to the wider spacing the highest estimated annual flower yield/ha (5.29t) was recorded in the closer spacing (S₁) 1.25 x 1.25 m and this is due to the higher plant population (6400 plants/ha) accommodated by this spacing. Hence closest spacing of 1.25 x 1.25 m is recommended since J. nitidum plants can be maintained with compact canopy with regular pruning.