Standardization of Nitrogen Application for Potted Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. Kikiobiory

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat), belongs to the family Asteraceae, commonly known as Queen of East or Autumn Queen, is a popular cut flower of commercial importance and native of Europe and Asia (Koley and Sarkar, 2013). Nitrogen applied as fertilizer is the main sources used to meet the N requirements of plant growth (Konnerup and Brix, 2010). Nutrient status of the plants can be indicator to the response of plant to the fertilization and internal content of the nutrient determine the fertilizer requirements (Polara et al., 2014). Chrysanthemum is a heavy feeder of nitrogen and phosphorus with high requirement for N during first seven weeks of their growth period. William et al. (2013) reported that chrysanthemum accumulates applied N in the form of NO3- during its active growth period which is later remobilized from vegetative tissues and directed to the developing bud during the bud emergence stage. Excessive nutrient concentrations caused an imbalance in other essential nutrients and reduced flower yield (Chawla et al., 2007). The plant height, number of branches, flower per plant and flower size increased with increase in nitrogen dose in annual chrysanthemum (Baboo and Sharma, 1997). Though, there is lot of literature available pertaining to amount of nutrient requirement in field grown chrysanthemum and however, there is a need to work in particular for potted plants used as cultivars. Keeping this in view, the study was undertaken to standardize the nitrogen dose for standard potted C. morifolium cv. Kikiobiory.

The present study was conducted at Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during 2015-16. The terminal cuttings were taken from the mother stock plants pinched in end of May to encourage more number of axillary shoots of pot standard C. morifolium cultivar Kikiobiory. The terminal cuttings (5-7 cm) were treated with IBA 400mg/L and rooted in burnt rice husk in June-July. The rooted cuttings were then transplanted during August in the earthen pots (8’’) containing mixture of soil and FYM (2:1) along with diammonium phosphate DAP incorporated as a basal dose @ 1 kg/100 cubic feet. The application of nitrogen in the form of urea (N 46%) was done twice in the last week of September and October as per the treatments viz. control, 100 mg/pot, 200 mg/pot, 300 mg/pot, 400 mg/pot and 500 mg/pot. The liquid fertigation of potassium @ 200 ppm (muriate of potash) was given after transplanting the cuttings at days interval till mid-October through watering can. The effect of different doses of nitrogen on vegetative growth (at 15 days interval) and floral parameters were recorded and statistically analyzed by SAS software using Duncan multiple range test (DMRT) at 5 per cent level of significance (Duncan, 1955).

The results indicated that vegetative parameters like plant height, number of leaves and root suckers per plant increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in nitrogen application from 100 mg/pot to 500 mg/pot (Table 1). The plant height at 45 days after planting (DAP) varied significantly in all the treatments and was highest (25.80 cm) with the nitrogen application of 500 mg/pot whereas, it was shorter (22.29 cm) in the control. The plant height at 60 and 75 DAP were significantly high in the treatment of nitrogen 500 mg/pot (55.67 and 75.47 cm) and 400 mg/pot (54. 30 and 72. 85 cm). However, all the other treatments were at par among themselves. The shorter plant height at 60 and 75 DAP was observed in the control (46.44 and 60.30 cm) which was at par with 100 mg/pot (46.66 and 60.59 cm) and 200 mg/pot (47.60 and 63.31 cm). The numbers of leaves per plant 45, 60 and 75 DAP, were significantly more in 500 mg/pot (18.14, 25.92 and 30.92, respectively) followed by 400 mg/pot (17.41, 24.32 and 29.92, respectively), whereas minimum were observed in the control (14.62, 20.17 and 23.50, respectively). The maximum number of root suckers per plant was obtained in 500 mg/pot (11.47) which is significantly better than the other doses, whereas minimum was recorded in 100 mg/ pot (8.78) which was at par with the control (8.61).

Table 1
Effect of nitrogen application on plant growth of chrysanthemum cv Kikiobiory

Values followed by common alphabets do not differ significantly

The increased plant height, number of leaves and root suckers per plant obtained were due to the effect of nitrogen which increased the number of cells, cell size and an overall leaf production (Joshi et al., 2013). The plants in control produced less vegetative growth due to non-availability of nitrogen and its involvement in photosynthesis. The increase in plant height in chrysanthemum at the higher dose of nitrogen might be due to the increase in transportation of metabolites and rate of photosynthesis in the plant which enabled the plant to have quick and better upward vegetative growth (Lodhi and Tiwari, 1993; Belgaonkar et al., 1996). These results are in accordance with Joshi et al. (2013) and Dorajeerao et al. (2012) reported on chrysanthemum.

The flowering parameters viz., days to flower bud appearance, colour break stage, full bloom, duration of flowering, flower diameter and nitrogen content in plants were significantly (p<0.05) affected with increase in nitrogen application from 100 mg/pot to 500 mg/pot. The flower bud appearance, colour break stage and full bloom were delayed with the application of nitrogen at the rate of 500 mg/pot. The flower diameter, nitrogen content in plant are increased and duration of flowering decreased with increased nitrogen dose from 100 mg/pot to 500 mg/pot with increase in nitrogen application. The earliest flower bud appearance (84.50 days) was obtained in the control which is at par with 100 mg/pot (84.89 days) and the maximum days were observed in 500 mg/pot (93.78 days). The earliest color break stage was recorded in the control (111.84 days) and the maximum days were obtained with the application of nitrogen 500 mg/pot (122.59 days). The earliest full bloom was obtained in the control (138.31 days) and the maximum days were observed with the nitrogen dose of 500 mg/pot (144.87 days). The flower duration was significantly better in control (11.00 days) followed by nitrogen 100 mg/pot (10.20 days) whereas, shortest flower duration was recorded in the nitrogen dose 500 mg/pot (5.84 days) followed by 400 mg/pot (6.08 days). The largest size of flower (17.69 cm) was obtained in 400 mg/pot of nitrogen, it was at par with 500 mg/pot (17.67 cm) whereas, smallest flower size in control (15.18 cm). The nitrogen content increased significantly with increased nitrogen dose, maximum at 500 mg/pot (1.24 %) followed by 400, 300 and 200 mg/pot (1.12, 1.02 and 0.95, respectively) and minimum at control (0.81%).

The delayed flowering with higher dose of nitrogen in chrysanthemum has been reported earlier by Ingle et al. (1993) and Sharma et al. (2006). This delay in blooming is better as flowering of chrysanthemum is confined only to limited period from October to December thus, the monitoring of nitrogen dose application provides growers with an efficient crop schedule according to demand of flowers in the market. Joshi et al. (2013) also reported decreased vase life in chrysanthemum with increased nitrogen application of 300kgha-1. These results are in conformity with the findings of De and Barman (1997) and John and Paul (1999) in chrysanthemum.

Table 2
Effect of nitrogen application on flowering of chrysanthemum cv Kikiobiory

We thank Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India for providing fellowship under the “INSPIRE Programme” to carry out this research work.