Influence of plant growth regulators on morphological and flowering behaviour of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) standl.) Barot D.C.1, Pawar Yogesh2,*, Chandhari Vishal M.2, Nadoda Nisha A.3 1College of Horticulture, Jagudan-382 710, Gujarat, India 2Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Deesa-385 535, India 3S. D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar- 385 506, Gujarat, India *e-mail: yogeshpawar@sdau.edu.in
Online Published on 11 January, 2024. Abstract A field experiment was conducted for evaluating the influence of three plant growth regulators (PGR) viz., gibberellic acid (GA3), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and ethrel on morphological and flowering behaviour of bottle gourd. The foliar application of ethrel @ 300 ppm was found beneficial for days taken for the appearance of the first female flower, number of male flowers, number of female flowers, and sex ratio. Whereas, the maximum length of the vine at 60 and 90 days after sowing, the minimum number of days taken from fruit set to edible maturity was obtained by the foliage application of GA3 @ 40 ppm however minimum days taken for the appearance of the first male flower was obtained with GA3 @ 60 ppm. Based on these observations, it could be suggested that a significant increase in flowering and growth characteristics would be obtained by the spraying of ethrel @ 300 ppm at the 2-4 true leaf stage. Top Keywords Ethrel, GA, NAA, PGR, Bottle gourd. Top |