Effect of pinching and plant growth regulators on flower regulation in African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.)

The present investigation was carried out to ascertain the effect of pinching and plant growth regulators application on flower regulation in African marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda grown under open field conditions in a factorial Randomized Block Design (RBD). Findings revealed that no pinching in African marigold produced significantly maximum plant height (69.30 cm), flower diameter (7.88 cm) and took minimum days for first bud initiation (37.52) as compared to the pinching at 25^th and 35^th day of transplanting, however, maximum number of primary branches per plant (13.38), plant spread (48.81 cm), number of flowers per plant (53.55), duration of flowering (64.34 days), fresh weight of flowers per plant (592.16 g) and flower yield (277.56 q/ha) were recorded with pinching at 35^th day of transplanting. Among the different plant growth regulators, GA₃ @ 300 ppm resulted in maximum plant height (74.27 cm), plant spread (49.35 cm), number of flowers per plant (53.67), flower diameter (7.92 cm), fresh weight of flowers (631.32 g), flower yield (295.93 q/ha) and minimum days taken to first bud initiation (36.11 days).