Effect of plant growth regulators and organic manures on growth and yield of African marigold var Pusa Basanti Gainda (Tagetes erecta L.)

A factorial experiment with three different growth regulators and organic manures was conducted during the Zaid season at the Nalanda College of Agriculture (Affiliated to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University), Trichy to find out their influence on the growth and yield parameters of African marigold var. ‘Pusa Basanti Gainda‘. The study has revealed that the growth regulators and organic manures had significant impact on the growth and yield parameters of African marigold var. "Pusa Basanti Gainda". The plants in the control plot had much lower growth and yield parameters than the plants in the treatment plots. Among the treatments, T₆ (100 PPM NAA + 50% goat manure) was found to be the best treatment with mean values of 37.2 cm plant height, 17.33 leaves per plant, 26.5 cm² leaf area, 14.33 laterals per plant, 13 flowers per plant, 8.57cm flower diameter and 11.73g flower weight. The growth regulators had significant impact on both the growth and yield parameters, while the organic manures had significant impact only on the yield parameters. The interaction between growth regulators and organic manures had significant impact on most of the parameters (Number of leaves per plant, leaf area, number of laterals per plant, flower diameter, and individual flower weight). Among the growth regulators, 100 PPM NAA and among the organic manures, 50% vermicompost had significant impact on all the growth and yield parameters of marigold.