Growth and flowering of pompon dahlia in response to application of organic manures Singh Navkaranjot*, Dhatt K. K., Singh Simrat Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab, India *Corresponding author: nikesidhu55@gmail.com
Online published on 1 October, 2022. Abstract Dahlia (Dahlia variablis) is a tuberous rooted tender perennial speciality cut flower, widely used as a bedding ornamental and as potted plant. A field experiment was conducted to examine the growth, flowering and yield response of pompon dahlia on application of composted organic manures (farmyard manure [FYM], vermicompost, mustard cake, bone meal, poultry manure, neem cake, liquid cow dung manure and FYM supplemented with water soluble NPK fertilizer). The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design with eight soil nutrition treatments replicated thrice, yielding a one-factor analysis of variance. Results revealed significantly better growth and flowering parameters of dahlia plants raised in plots incorporated with well decomposed FYM (15 tonnes/ha) and supplemented with water soluble NPK (30:40:40). This nutrition treatment also proved best in flower yield with highest number of flowers and weight of flowers per plant. The mean yield in terms of number of flowers (21.3), individual flower weight (17.7g) and flower yield (3.4 kg/m2) was also found highest in plots incorporated with FYM and supplemented with NPK. Therefore, the flower quality and yield attributes of field cultivated pompon dahlias can be enhanced with application of well decomposed FYM and supplementing the plants with NPK (30:40:40) till full bloom stage under sub-tropical conditions of North West India. Top Keywords Dahlia variabilis, Organic manures, Water soluble fertilizer, Growth, Yield. Top |