Green cultivation of Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybrida) cv. ‘White Prosperity’

An investigation was carried out to study the effect of VAM, Vermi compost, Vermi wash and standard fertilizer dose on growth and flowering in gladiolus cv. White Prosperity in well drained loamy soil with medium fertility level at MFC Pantnagar, Uttarakhand during 2005–2006. The corms (2–3 cm diameter) were planted on 15^th December 2005, at spacing of 30 × 20 cm. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design, consisting of nine treatments with three replications. Vermi compost, VAM and chemical fertilizer were applied at the time of planting, while vermiwash was sprayed twice, at 3 leaf stage and at 6 leaf stage (spike emergence stage). All the bio-fertilizers significantly improved different vegetative and floral characters as compared to control. The vegetative bud emergence was found to be earliest (13.66 days) in T6 (VAM + VC) and T9 (VAM + VC + VW) treatments. Sprouting (100%) was first obtained (27.33 days) with T6 (VAM + CV). Furthermore, the plant height was maximum (55.92 cm) in T9 (VAM+VC + VW) after 45 days. Amongst the all treatments, T9 (VAM + VC + VW) was found significantly effective in number of leaves and corm characters. The average corm weight (50.86g), number of cormels per plant (56.66), number of corms/m² (28.66), and diameter (5.92cm) were found maximum with T9 (VAM +VC+ VW) treatments.