International Journal of Horticulture and Floriculture Vol. 2 (9), pp. 124-129, September, 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

The Performance of open field Gerbera in response to planting time

Arslan Sartaj

Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agricultural Science, Assam Agriculture University, Jorhat, Assam, India. Email: sartaj_slan@gmail.com

Accepted 17 August, 2014

Abstract

Adjustment in planting time is one of the effective means of improving cut flower output under open field conditions. A field experiment was carried out on Gerbera with eight different dates of planting (15^th March - 15^th October) on Alfisol during 2006 to 2009. Difference in planting time induced a significant difference in performance of Gerbera, due to variation in soil moisture content (153.2 g/kg in May planting to 301.6 g/kg in August planting, coinciding linearly with rainfall received). However, the treatment with June planting produced the best response in terms of number of leaves/plant (15.96), leaf area (138.78 cm²), plant height (27.09 cm), flower size (9.12 cm), stalk length (35.77 cm), number of flowers (220.1/m²) and flower yield (2.95 kg/m²) compared to rest of the other dates of planting. The study, hence, suggested that an effective benchmark of optimum soil moisture (201.0 g/kg, that is, 82.8% of 33 KPa soil moisture) is necessary to harness upon the benefits of suitable planting time under rainfed open field conditions.

Key words: Soil moisture, planting time, vegetative growth, flower yield, Alfisol, Gerbera.