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The present study was carried out to elucidate the effect of different planting dates on growth, flowering and seed production of Sweet william (Dianthus barbatus L.) during 2010-2012. Six plantings were done at an interval of 15 days starting from September 17 in both years. Plantings dates were; September 17, October 2, October 17, November 1, November 16 and December 1. The results showed that different planting dates have significant influence on vegetative, flower and seed yield characters. September 17 planting resulted in improvement of all the attributes including increased plant height (63.54 cm), plant spread (33.32 cm), stem length (56.30 cm), earliest flowering (71.15 days), duration of flowering (41.98 days), number of flowers per stem (central and side; 109.42 and 27.58), number of capsules per plant (373.75), number of seeds per capsule (40.85), 1,000seed weight (0.90 g) and seed yield per plant (10.75 g). It is suggested that proper planting date reduce the production cost by reducing the crop time and also produce elite flowers with increased market value.

The present study was carried out in an experimental farm in the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (H.P.) during March to December, 2010. The experiment was laid out in split plot design, comprising of eight different planting dates and two spacing, (viz., 30 × 20 cm and 30 × 30 cm) as sub-plot treatment at monthly intervals from, mid-March to October, 2010. Maximum flower size was recorded for April planting date crop, whereas, June planting date gave the best results for plant height and plant spread. However, maximum number of flowers and maximum yield per plant were recorded in March planted crop. Plant height, plant spread flower size and yield per plant were at maximum in a wider spacing S 2 (30 × 30 cm). Maximum number of flowers per plant as well as maximum yield per plant was recorded in March planting at closer spacing S 2 (30 × 20 cm).

Ten cultivars of China aster [Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees] were evaluated for 12 growth and flowering related traits to study their genetic parameters such as variability, heritability, genetic coefficient of variation (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), correlation and path coefficient analysis. Significant differences among cultivars for all the growth and flowering related traits were reported through analysis of variance. Wide range in mean performance has been reported in characters such as plant height (41.15-102.25 cm), plant spread (23.79-55.70 cm), days to first flower opening (77.25-106.25 days), flowering duration (25.65-41.30 days) and weight of flowers/plant (84.50-174.42 g). Higher genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was recorded for plant height and plant spread. High heritability (>80%) was recorded for all traits, except number of harvests of loose flower. The genetic advance ranged from 1.36 (individual flower weight) to 57.15 (weight of flowers/plant). High values of genetic gain were recorded for plant height (69.81%), followed by weight of flowers/plant (50.97%). Weight of flowers/plant is significantly and positively correlated both at genotypic and phenotypic level to plant height, plant spread, flower head diameter, number of flowers/plant and individual flower weight. Path coefficient analysis using correlation coefficients revealed that number of flowers/plant contributed highest positive direct effect on weight of flowers/plant, followed by individual flower weight and plant height. Various cultivars performed differently for various quantitative characters. Therefore, cultivars with superior traits can be utilised in hybridization to transfer desirable traits into a single cultivar.

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