Effect of different planting time and stimulants on growth, flowering and yield of chrysanthemum

An experiment was conducted at Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari and laid out in Split Plot Design with fifteen treatment combinations, consisting of five planting time and three stimulants and replicated by four times. Among different planting time, chrysanthemum planted in third week of August (M1) recorded highest plant height (43.40 cm), plant spread in N-S and E-W directions (42.10 cm and 40.43 cm, respectively), number of branches per plant (4.17) at 75 days after transplanting. Earliness in 50% flowering (87.08 days) was noted with third week of October planting (M5). Moreover, maximum number of flowers per plant (124.10), weight of flowers per plant (296.84 g), yield of flowers per plot (6.19 kg) and yield of flowers per ha (24.56 t) were also obtained in August planting. Whereas, in case of foliar application of FeSO4 0.5% + ZnSO4 0.5% at 30, 45 and 60 DATP resulted maximum plant height (41.38 cm), plant spread in N-S and E-W directions (35.96 cm and 34.00 cm, respectively), number of branches per plant (3.81). Furthermore, maximum number of flowers per plant (101.50), weight of flowers per plant (255.41 g), yield of flowers per plot (5.40 kg) and yield of flowers per ha (21.44 t) with earliness for 50% flowering (95.15 days) were noted in same treatment.