SKUAST Journal of Research

Open Access
  • Year: 2025
  • Volume: 27
  • Issue: 3

Enhancing vegetative growth in certain gerbera genotypes (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus) vis-a-vis early flowering with fertigation and foliar nutrient spray

  • Author:
  • Sadaf Rafiq1,*, Z. A. Bhat1, Z. A. Rather1, I. T. Nazki1, R. A. Lone1, J. A. Wani2, Nageena Nazir3, Z. A. Dar4, Zahoor Ahmed1
  • Total Page Count: 6
  • Page Number: 426 to 431

1Division of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir-190 025 (India)

2Division of Soil Science, SKUAST-K, Shalimar

3Division of Agricultural Statistics, SKUAST-K, Shalimar

4DARS, SKUAST-K, Budgam

Abstract

The present study on growth in few gerbera genotypes (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus) for early flowering with fertigation and foliar nutrient spray was conducted under greenhouse conditions. The experiment consisted of 18 treatment combinations with three different fortnightly fertigation schedules {NPK (19:19:19) 1.0g /plant : NPK (19:19:19) 2.0g /plant : NPK (19:19:19) 3.0g /plant} and monthly foliar nutrient spray (Cal Max Gold 2.0ml/l and 4.0ml/l) and three gerbera cultivars V1 (BRT Pink), V2 (Pal White), V3 (Kat Red) replicated thrice in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Application of NPK (19:19:19) 3g/l + Cal Max Gold 2.0 ml/l enhanced vegetative growth in terms of plant spread (cm), number of leaves/plant, leaf area (cm2). The study showed that enhanced vegetative growth resulted in advancement of flowering studied in terms of days to flower bud appearance and flower opening. Among cultivars,BRT Pink performed better than Pal White and Kat Red.

Keywords

Fertigation, Genotype, Gerbera, Vegetative growth