Effect of Pot Size and Number of Plants Per Pot on Growth and Flowering of French Marigold (Tagetes patula l.) Cv. Arka Pari

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out at College of Horticulture, Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during Rabi 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. The experiment was laid in factorial completely randomized design with two factors, twelve treatments and 3 replications to study the effect of pot size and number of plants per pot on growth and flowering of French marigold (Tagetes patula L.) cv. Arka Pari. Interaction of P3 x N1: 8 inch pot with single plant showed maximum plant height (20.72, 28.27 and 33.94 cm), plant spread (E-W) (15.95, 23.30 and 31.96 cm), plant spread (N-S) (15.22, 22.65 and 31.87 cm), number of branches (8.53, 14.63 and 20.24), number of leaves (28.90, 55.37 and 83.03), stem diameter (7.45, 8.64 and 9.56 mm) and chlorophyll (SPAD) (70.11, 57.76 and 51.95) at 30, 60 and 90 DAT, respectively. Among three different pot sizes, minimum number of days taken for first flower bud initiation (28.45 days), number of days taken for first flower bud opening (34.73days), 50 percent flowering (47.79 days) and number of days taken for full bloom (56.89 days) were recorded in P1: 4-inch pot. Among different plant density per pot, N4: four plants per pot recorded minimum number of days taken for first flower bud initiation (27.22 days), first flower bud opening (33.58 days), 50 percent flowering (47.68 days), number of days taken for full bloom (56.07days). Pooled number of flowers per plant was observed maximum in P3 x N1:8 inch pot with single plant (63.13). Pooled number of flowers per pot were found maximum in P3 x N4:8 inch pot with four plants (135.93). The interaction effect of different pot size and number of plants per pot was found to be non-significant for number of days taken for flower bud initiation, number of days taken for flower bud opening, 50 percent flowering and number of days taken for full bloom.