Influence of planting densities and depths on biometric characters and bulb production in tuberose

摘要

Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) is an important bulbous floral crop. It grows in wide range of soils and climatic conditions but it thrive well in warm and humid climate, The flower is a good source of essential oil which is mostly preferred in preparation of perfumes and cosmetics. Sharge (4) suggested 25 x 25 cm as optimum spacing for tuberose, Mukhopadhyay et a/.(1). obtained better bulb production and number of spikes with wide spacing but decreased with increasing depth of planting. Sadhu andDas (1978) found that deep planting (6 cm) delayed sprouting and produced less number of leaves. Perusal of literature indicate that information available on planting densities and depths of planting is not adequate. Hence the trial was conducted to standardize the suitable spacing and depth of planting in tuberose. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications in Horticultural Garden, Dept. of Horticulture, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur. The different planting densities were viz., S_1 (15 x15 cm), S_2 (20 x 20 cm), S_3 (25 x25 cm), S_4 (30 x 30 cm), S_5 (35 x 35 cm) and four depths namely, D_1 (5 cm), D_2 (7 cm), D_3 (9 cm), D_4 (11 cm) were adopted. Healthy bulbs of 2.7 - 3.0 cm diameter were presoaked in 0.1 per cent carbendazim and planting was done on 10th September. Trial was continued for two years. Recommended dose of NPK at the rate 300:200:200 was applied. The data related to emergence and sprouting were recorded during first year while biometric characters were studied for two years. The production of bulbs/bulblets was assessed at final stage in second year.