Progressive Horticulture

China aster (Callistephus chinensis L. Nees), belonging to family Asteraceae is an important ornamental annual known for its uses as cut flower, loose flower, pot plant and bedding purposes. It bear flowers in the array of colours including white, pink, rose red, magenta, lavender, purple, violet to their innumerable variations. Aster is being grown in different parts of the country in different times of the year. In the present study, the effect of GA₃ levels (0, 100, 150 and 200) and date of planting (March, April and June) was studied on growth, flowering and seed yield of three cultivars of China Aster, viz., Kamini, Shashank and Violet Cushion. GA₃ was applied as foliar spray treatment twice in the growing season, i.e., 40 and 55 days after transplanting and the crop was raised in the mid hill zone of Himachal Pradesh. Plant height was recorded maximum in cv. Kamini (82.10 cm) as compared to other cultivars. Further, maximum plant height (95.17 cm) was recorded when the plants of cv. Kamini were planted in the month of June and sprayed with GA₃ 200ppm. Different levels of growth regulators does not seem to affect the size of flowers in different cultivars. It was, however, observed that maximum flower size was found in cv. Kamini (6.52 cm) when plants were sprayed with GA₃ 200 ppm and raised in the month of June. April planting combined with the application of GA₃ 200 ppm resulted in maximum flower yield in cv. Kamini (37.93 flowers/plant and 331.60 flowers/m²) as compared to other cultivars under study. As far as seed yield is concerned, it was maximum for cv. Kamini (2.80g/plant and 25.23g/m²) when transplanting was done in the month of June and plants were sprayed with GA₃ 200 ppm.