Vol. 12, Issue 4 (2023)

Author(s):
Manjunath S Halagi, Rajendra P Maurya, MK Bundela and MK Jat

Abstract:
The present investigation was carried out at Agricultural Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jagatpura, Jaipur (Rajasthan) to study the effect of plant spacing and pinching time on plant growth, flower quality characters and yield attributes in African marigold under semi-arid condition during winter season of the year 2019-20. The experiment was laid down in Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications which comprises of sixteen treatment combinations included four different levels of plant spacing (40x10 cm, 40x20 cm, 40x40 cm and 40x60 cm) and four pinching stages as well (no pinching, pinching at 20 DAT, pinching at 30 DAT and pinching at 40 DAT). The maximum chlorophyll (9.70 mg g^-1FW), primary branches plant^–1 (11.16), bud size (1.40 mm), flower diameter (6.53 cm), flowers plant^–1 (47.16) and heaviest fresh flower weight (10.40 g) were recorded under the widest plant spacing (40x 60 cm). Whereas, the highest plant height (65.45 cm), longest (66.00 days) blooming period and the highest yield ha^–1 (127.33 q) were recorded under plant spacing of 40x20 cm. The pinching at 30 days after transplanting performed significant effect on highest plant height (67.50 cm), primary branches plant^–1 (12.83), bud size (1.39 mm), flower diameter (7.00 cm), heaviest fresh flower weight (10.58 g), blooming period (67.66 days) and maximum flowers plant^–1 (57.18) and yield quintal ha^-1 (358.35 q). The interaction effect of plant spacing 40x20 cm and pinching at 30 DAT significantly influenced the highest plant height (68.52 cm), maximum leaves (146.67), stem diameter (1.73 cm), primary branches (13.91), bud size (1.40 mm), flower diameter (7.60 cm), the heaviest fresh flower (11.66 g), dry flower weight (4.80 g), longest pedicel length (8.16 cm), blooming period (71.67 days), vase life (7.42 days), highest flower yield plant^–1 (60.50 g)_, yield quintal ha^-1 (132.83 q) and a B: C ratio of 3.03. It is, therefore, concluded from the present study that the treatment combination consists of plant spacing 40 x 20 cm and pinching at 30 days after transplanting were found to be best and showed a significant effect on vegetative growth, yield and flower quality of African marigold.