Effect of Micronutrients on Growth and Flowering of Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.) under Subtropics of Jammu

An open field experiment was conducted during 2019-20 at the Experimental Farm, Division of Vegetable Science & Floriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, to evaluate the effect of micronutrients on growth, flowering and yield of gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.) cv. ‘Nova Lux’. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications and nineteen treatments. The different micro-nutrient like Fe, Zn and Mn was taken in different concentrations along with control. The results revealed that maximum plant height (97.74 cm), number of leaves per plant (9.04), leaf length (74.36 cm) and leaf area index (4.14) was recorded with the application of ZnSO4 at 0.2 % and FeSO4 at 0.2 %. Further, among the flowering traits, minimum duration for days taken for 1st floret opening, the maximum spike length (81.86 cm), rachis length (56.76 cm), number of florets per spike 917.69) and weight of the spike (74.78 g) was recorded with the application of ZnSO4 at 0.2 % and FeSO4 at 0.2 %. Thus, foliar application of micronutrients i,e. ZnSO4 at 0.2 % and FeSO4 at 0.2 % proved to be most effective in increasing the growth, flowering and corm production in gladiolus.