Effect of planting time and spacing on growth and flower yield of marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. African Yellow

To standardise the time of planting and sppcing of African Yellow marigold a field trial was conducted with five dates of planting viz. first date of May (D₁), July (D₂), September (D₃), November (D₄) and January (D₅), and four levels of spacing viz. 30 cm × 20 cm (S₁), 40 cm × 20 cm (S₂), 30 cm × 30 cm (S₃) and 40 cm × 30 cm (S₄). Among different planting dates, May planting was not found beneficial, as the plants continued vegetative growth for a longer period and the flower yield was very low. On the contrary, September planting was the best for maximising the yield, closely followed by July planting. January and November plantings hastened the appearance of flower bud. Besides, the flower yield under the two planting dates was also much better than under May planting. This investigation also revealed that with the increase in spacing, the fresh weight of individual flower and the flower yield per plant were increased. The ma×imum yield of flowers/plant was obtained with September planting at a spacing of 40 cm × 30 cm.