Performance of winter annual flowering species as affected by different modes of saline and canal water irrigation

A field experiment was conducted to explore the possibilities of winter ornamental flowers those could be raised with saline irrigation (EC 4–5 dS/m). On the basis of tolerance monitored in terms of survival and growth, yield of cut flowers, longevity of flowering and ultimately the economic vale of produce, it was concluded that the preferred choice should be Chrysanthemum followed by calendula and German chamomile No adverse effect of saline irrigation was noticed on growth of ornamental mustard. Species like Antirrhinum, candituft, Dahalia, marigold, stock and sweet William showed poor performance under saline irrigation. Performance of these species also improved considerably if the transplanted seedlings were established with better quality water and later on saline water was used.