Effect of foliar application of urea and planting geometry on growth and flowering of gladiolus cv sapna

A field trial was conducted to study the influence of urea and planting geometry on growth and flowering of gladiolus cv sapna. The experiment comprises three spacing viz. 30 x 20 cm, (S₁) 30 x 30 cm (S₂) and 30 x 40 cm (S₃) in combination with the five levels of foliar application of urea viz. N₀ (control), N₁ (1%), N₂ (2%), N₃ (3%) and N₄ (4%) were tested in Factorial RBD. Data revealed that the wider spacing (30 x 40 cm) and higher level of foliar application of urea improved growth and flowering of gladiolus. Regarding growth attributes height of plant, number of leaves; leaf area and specific leaf weight were greatly influenced by nitrogen. 4% (N₄) urea and 40x30 cm spacing revealed 81.87 cm and 81.72 cm, 11.78 and 11.87 (leaves/plant), 334.21 and 315.48 cm² and 623.71, 612.81 mg/dm² values respectively. As above application of 4% urea (N₄) and 30X40 cm (S₃) spacing also showed maximum value in respect of flowering attributes, revealed 95.25 and 97.44 cm length of floral stalk, 20.87 and 21.04 florets per stalk, 94.77 and 94.07 days required for opening of first floret, 14.48 and 14.36 days required for opening of last floret and 7.51 and 7.33 cm diameter respectively. The interactive effect of nitrogen and spacing improved growth and flowering parameters but it was not found significant variation with all characters.