Effect of varieties and pinching days on growth and yield attributes of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.)

Abstract

From June to August 2021, a field experiment was carried out at the College of Natural Resource Management, Puranchaur-19, Kaski to examine the effects of pinching on the vegetative growth and yield characteristics of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.). Two major varieties, Karma-666 and Karma-555, were evaluated in the experiment with three different dates of pinching (Control, 20 DAT, and 40 DAT), which were set up in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. According to the findings, at 5% level of significance, no significant difference was found in the interaction effect between growth and floral characters. Karma-555 showed greater plant spread (34.77 cm) and more branches per plant (13.73) than Karma-666. Additionally, Karma-555 was found to have a higher number of flowers plant-1 (39.10) and flower yield plant-1 (335.77 g). However, Karma-666 had significantly (P <0.001) high fresh flower weight (10.51 g) and flower diameter (7.18 cm). Plants pinched at 20DAT were found to be the most effective for enhancing vegetative growth parameters and flower yield.

Apical Pinching of Zinnia Plants Increases Productivity and Quality of Stem Flowers

“…Dentre as técnicas culturais utilizadas para estimular a produção de flores pode-se citar o desponte apical que consiste na remoção do meristema apical (Yaseen et al 2022;Bhusal 2023). Com a remoção do meristema, reduz-se a produção de auxinas e consequentemente, a dominância apical, promovendo o desenvolvimento das gemas laterais podendo produzir uma planta mais compacta e um aumento significativo do número de flores (Ona et al 2015;Ullah et al 2019).…”

“…O desponte apical tem sido recomendado para a produção de crisântemos, por estimular as brotações laterais e o número de flores produzidas e, consequentemente o valor estético das hastes florais (Ehsanullah et al 2021). Essa técnica também tem sido recomendada para aumentar a produtividade de Tagetes em campos de produção (Singh et al 2019;Bhusal et al 2023). O desponte apical tem sido aplicado em outras culturas de plantas ornamentais, como no cultivo de aster, lisiantus, perpétua e dalia (Lakshmaiah et al 2019;Rahman et al 2021;Yaseen et al 2022;Mhatre et al 2023).…”