Response of different chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) cultivars for pot mum under agro-climatic conditions of Banda, Uttar Pradesh

Eight promising cultivars of Chrysanthemum, namely 'Mother Teresa', 'Little Pink', 'Basanti', 'Freedom', 'Pitika', 'Touching Queen', 'Haldighati' and 'Sadbhawna' were evaluated for pot mum production under Banda conditions during the year 2020-2021 at Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, BUAT, Banda. Significant differences were obtained among the cultivars for most of the vegetative and flowering parameters. The results revealed that the maximum plant height was recorded in cv. 'Basanti' (45.12 cm), whereas maximum number of leaves per plant recorded in 'Sadbhawna' (297.77), maximum stem girth (7.22 mm) in 'Mother Teresa', maximum number of primary and secondary branches per plant (16.11 and 54.55) respectively in 'Pitika'. Maximum inter nodal length (2.87 cm) and maximum leaf area (7.85 cm²) was recorded in 'Little Pink'. No significant differences were reported among all the cultivars in response to number of root suckers per plant. 'Haldighati' took minimum days (83.00 days) for first flowering after transplanting whereas, the days taken for 50% flowering among the cultivars ranged from 'Haldighati' (97.00 days) to 'Little Pink' (131.00 days). Maximum flowering duration was recorded in cv. 'Touching Queen' (44.77 days). Maximum number of flowers per plant was recorded in cv. 'Pitika' (151.89) whereas the maximum flower yield per plant was obtained in 'Touching Queen' (107.12 g). Chrysanthemum cultivars i.e. 'Pitika', 'Sadbhawna', 'Mother Teresa' and 'Haldighati' were found suitable for pot mum production under Banda, Uttar Pradesh conditions.