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ThesisItem Open Access Varietal evaluation of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) for yield growth and quality(Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Agriculture, Padannakkad, 2020) Hasna, P M; KAU; Meera Manjusha, A VTuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L. Family: Amaryllidaceae) is one of the most popular tropical ornamental bulbous flowering plant grown on a commercial scale throughout different states of India. They are much adored by the aesthetic world for their colour, elegance and fragrance. As the commercial cultivation of tuberose is gaining importance, introduction and identification of high yielding varieties is necessary. The quality and production of any crop or variety largely influenced by its genetic makeup and climatic condition under which they are grown. Therefore, in order to select suitable and high yielding cultivar for a particular region it is very much necessary to collect and evaluate all the available genotypes. The study entitled “Varietal evaluation of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) for growth, yield and quality” was carried out at the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Agriculture, Padannakkad, Kasaragod and RARS Pilicode during 2019-2020. The experiment was laid out in Randomized block design with ten treatments and three replications. The varieties were screened for vegetative, floral, quality and post- harvest parameters. The study clearly indicated that genotypic differences among varieties and variation in environmental factors significantly influence vegetative and floral characters of tuberose. Minimum number of days to 50 % flowering (108.38 days), longest spike (111.80 cm) and maximum diameter of peduncle (3.05 cm) was recorded in variety Arka Prajwal. Variety Arka Suvasini recorded maximum value for rachis length (47.60 cm), longevity of spike (13.60 days), days to complete opening of spikes (26.15 days), diameter of floret (3.53 cm), weight of 100 florets (235.43 g), loose flower yield (131.31 g) and fresh weight of spike (133.52 g). Variety Arka Vaibhav recorded maximum number of florets per spike (63.00). Longest floret was observed in variety Culcutta Single (7.03 cm). Variety Culcutta Double found to be superior in terms of vase life (8.53 days) of spike. Concrete recovery found maximum in single petalled cultivars than semi double and double type cultivars. Stage of harvest, growing environmental condition, season and method of extraction have significant influence on the recovery of concrete. In the present study concrete recovery ranges from 0.012 to 0.117 % and maximum concrete obtained for the variety Arka Sugandhi. Out of the ten genotypes of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) comprising single, semi- double and double petalled cultivars, the variety Arka Prajwal, Arka Shringar, Arka Sugandhi and Culcutta Single among single petalled type, Arka Vaibhav the only semi petalled type and variety Arka Suvasini and Culcutta Double among double petalled type were found to be superior in terms of growth, yield and quality of flower under northern Kerala condition. Among these Arka Prajwal can be recommended for loose flower production, Arka Suvasini for cut flower production and Arka Sugandhi for oil extraction purpose.ThesisItem Open Access Spacing and nutrient management for Gomphrena globosa L.(Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2020) Reshma, Shaji; KAU; Sobhana, AGomphrena globosa L. is a charming ornamental annual plant, commonly known as globe amaranth or bachelor’s button. Gomphrena is native to tropical and sub-tropical countries including India. It belongs to the family Amaranthaceae. Colourful and globular flower heads add colour and beauty to the garden and the flowers are suitable for cut and dried floral arrangements. Gomphrena is also an excellent choice for beds, borders and rock gardens. Among the various factors responsible for high crop yield, optimum spacing coupled with supply of appropriate quantity of nutrients at appropriate time plays a vital role in enhancing the productivity and the quality of the crop. For the commercialization of this crop, there is need to standardize optimum plant spacing and fertilizer levels. In this context, the study “Spacing and nutrient management for Gomphrena globosa L.” was carried out in the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 2019- 2020. Objective of the study was to standardize the spacing and fertilizer requirement of Gomphrena globosa for cultivation in Kerala. The experiment was carried out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with eight treatments comprising two levels of spacing i.e., 30x30 cm and 45x45 cm and three levels of fertilizers viz; NPK @ 50:25:50 kg/ha, 75:50:75 kg/ha and 100:50:100 kg/ha. Observations on growth characters, yield, post-harvest parameters, nutrient status of the soil, plant nutrient content and uptake were recorded. Among the growth characters, plant height was found significantly higher in the treatment with closer spacing of 30x30cm compared to 45x45cm spacing. Other growth characters including plant spread, number of branches per plant and dry matter production per plant showed significant improvement when grown under wider spacing (34.92 cm, 14.83, 52.53 g/plant respectively). However, dry matter production per unit area (4 t/ha) was found the highest under closer spacing. Different fertilizer doses were found to be on par with one another with respect to plant height and were superior over control. Similar trend was found in plant spread, number of branches per plant and dry matter production. There was no significant interaction effect of spacing and nutrients on growth parameters. Early bud initiation (46.81 days) and minimum number of days to 50% flowering (50.58 days) was observed under closer spacing of 30x30cm. Wider spacing of 45x45 cm produced greater number of flowers per plant (42.64), flower yield (40.90 g/plant) and seed yield per flower (0.29 g). The flower yield per hectare was found to be highest in closer spacing (2.50 t/ha). The different nutrient doses had significant effect on flower yield (g/plant). Application of N:P2O5:K2O @ 50:25:50 kg/ha produced greater flower yield (40.41 g/plant) which was on par with N:P2O5:K2O @ 75:50:75 kg/ha (35.11 g/plant) and superior over control treatments without fertilizers. The earliest bud initiation was observed in plants applied with N:P2O5:K2O @ 50:25:50 kg/ha along with closer spacing of 30x30 cm (42.78 days). Other floral characters and post-harvest parameters were not significantly influenced by spacing and fertilizer treatments. Nutrient content in the plants was found the highest in wider spacing (45x45 cm) and the content in the plant increased as the dose of nutrient applied increased. However, the nutrient uptake by the plants (kg/ha) was found to be the highest in plants grown under closer spacing (30x30 cm) and the uptake of the nutrients also increased with increase in fertilizer dose. Results showed that higher dose of fertilizers (N:P2O5:K2O @ 100:50:100 kg/ha) and wider spacing (45x45 cm) promoted vegetative growth of plants. Plants spaced at 30x30 cm and fertilized with N:P2O5:K2O @ 50:25:50 kg/ha produced more flowers and higher flower yield and can be recommended for improving the growth and flowering of gomphrena plants.ThesisItem Open Access Standardization of alternate media for potted ornamental foliage plants for export purpose(Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2020) Rashida, C K; KAU; Mini, SankarThe investigation entitled “standardization of alternate media for potted ornamental foliage plants for export purpose” was carried out in Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara from June, 2019 to June, 2020. The objectives of the study were to standardize alternate media for potted ornamental foliage plants for export purpose and to work out the economics. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized block design with ten treatments and four replications. Treatments included ten different growing media containing soil, sand, FYM, cocopeat, vermicompost, rice husk, biochar, perlite and vermiculite in various proportions viz., T1 : soil, vermicompost and sand in 3:2:1, T2 : soil (75%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T3: soil (50%) + cocopeat (25%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T4 : soil (25%) + cocopeat (50%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T5 : cocopeat (70%) + rice husk (10%) + vermicompost (10%) + sand (10% ), T6 : cocopeat (50%) + rice husk (25%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T7 : cocopeat (50%) + biochar (25%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T8 : cocopeat (25%) + biochar (25%) + vermicompost (25%) + sand (15%) + perlite (10%), T9 : soil: FYM : sand (1:1:1) (Control) and T10 : cocopeat (50%) + vermicompost (20%) + perlite (15%) + vermiculite (15%). Popular herbaceous foliage plant Aglaonema commutatum var. ‘silver frost’ was used for the study. Significant improvement in growth parameters viz., plant height and plant spread was observed in all soil based media (T1, T2, T3 and T9) as well as in two cocopeat based media (T4 and T5) during the study period. However, the treatment T10 [cocopeat (50%) + vermicompost (20%) + perlite (15%) + vermiculite (15%)] was found to satisfy the height (48.89 cm) and plant spread (50.78cm) as per the recommended grades and standards for potted aglaonema (FMA and FNGA, 1994). Even though significant improvement with respect to number of leaves was observed in various treatments during the period of experiment, T10 was found to have consistent performance confirming to the standards of potted plants. The treatments T4, T5 and T6 which were cocopeat based treatments showed more leaf width throughout the period of observation (7.89-7.29 cm). Composition of growing media significantly influenced the leaf area. T1, T7, T10 and T4 were found to have maximum leaf area (8091.26 - 8982.67 cm2) at the end of experiment. As the foliage enhances the beauty of potted plants, production of leaves at frequent intervals is a desirable character. In the present study, minimum interval for the production of successive leaves was observed in treatments T4, T10, T9, T5 and T3, whereas T8 was found to have more time interval between the production of leaves. Early emergence of first sucker (94.79 days) was observed in T8 [cocopeat (25%) + biochar (25%)+ vermicompost (25%)+ sand (15%) + perlite (10%)], whereas T2 [soil (75%)+ vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%)] took more time for emergence of first sucker (155.33 days). Number of suckers decides the fullness of the pot at the base and the medium composed of cocopeat (50%), vermicompost (20%), perlite (15%) and vermiculite (15%) (T10) was superior with regard to this parameter (6.10). The lowest shoot length will provide a compact appearance to the potted plants. The treatments T8 [cocopeat (25%), biochar (25%), vermicompost (25%), sand (15%) and perlite (10%)], T10 [cocopeat (50%)+ vermicompost (20%)+ perlite (15%)+ vermiculite (15%)], T7 [cocopeat (50%)+ biochar (25%)+ vermicompost (15%)+ sand (10%)] and T6 [cocopeat (50%)+ rice husk (25%)+ vermicompost (15%)+ sand (10%)] showed lowest shoot length. Fresh weight of leaves is an indication of quality of foliage and this parameter was found to be highest in media T1, T9, T4, T8 and T10. T5 was superior with regard to dry weight of leaves. With regard to root parameters, T4 and T5 were superior in terms of fresh weight of roots. Number of lateral roots was observed to be highest in T9, T1, T5, T4 and T2. Even though improvement in growth characters and root parameters was observed due to various treatments, potted ornamental foliage plants should satisfy certain quality criteria for export purpose. As per the recommended grades and standards for potted aglaonema for export, it should possess height and spread within the range of 40.64 cm to 50.80 cm and there should be 6-12 suckers per pot. The medium should be light in weight and it should have more water holding capacity so as to avoid irrigation at frequent intervals. In the present study, the medium composed of cocopeat (50%), vermicompost (20%), 6perlite (15%), vermiculite (15%) (T10) was found to possess all these characteristics and also it was superior with respect to number of leaves as well as number of suckers, which are the desirable characters for potted foliage plants for interiorscaping. In addition to this, the medium was found to have high porosity, low bulk density and high water holding capacity which helps to reduce irrigation requirement of potted plants. Hence this medium can be recommended as a medium for export purpose of potted ornamental foliage plants.
