EFFECT OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FERTIGATION AND PLANTING SEASON ON GROWTH AND FLOWER PRODUCTION OF ASIATIC HYBRID LILIUM CULTIVARS

S. VINODH¹*, M. KANNAN², M. JAWAHARLAL^3
1Department of Floriculture and landscaping, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, Tamil Nadu
²Department of Floriculture and landscaping, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, Tamil Nadu
³Department of Floriculture and landscaping, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, Tamil Nadu
* Corresponding Author : vinohorts@gmail.com

Received : 08-06-2016     Accepted : 16-06-2016     Published : 09-10-2016
Volume : 8     Issue : 45       Pages : 1904 - 1908
Int J Agr Sci 8.45 (2016):1904-1908

Keywords : Lilium, fertigation, Planting season, Cultivars
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : None declared
Author Contribution : None declared

A field experiment was carried out during three successive seasons at M/s. Balaji Flowers, Devashola Estate, The Nilgiris by the Dept. of Floriculture and Landscaping, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to evaluate Asiatic hybrid lilium cultivars with different levels of fertigation on growth and yield characters. Among the treatments application of @ 8:4:10 g NPK/m2 along with micronutrient mixtures @ 4 g/m2 in the cv. Pollyanna during summer season performed best compare to other treatments. Overall plant growth, days taken for bud initiation, flower shoot length and flower yield were found to be superior under F7 fertigation treatment in summer season over other fertigation levels and seasons. Among the four cultivars, Pollyanna showed improvement in flower shoot length, number of flower buds, diameter of flower and flower yield during summer season. A few other cultivars, viz., Navona, Black Out and Tresor also exhibited higher flower yield during all three seasons. Thus, it has been observed that there is no significant difference among three seasons for flower production in Lilium cultivars but fertigation and cultivar played a significant role.