Yield and production potential influenced by inter plant spacing’s and planting dates in annual chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum coronarium L.)

The present study was carried at the Experimental Farm of the Division of Floriculture and Landscaping, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chatha, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India during the year 2022-2023. The experiment was laid out in factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) consisting of 12 treatment combinations viz., four planting dates (10th October, 25th October, 10th November and 25th November) and three inter plant spacings (30 cm × 30 cm, 45 cm × 45cm and 60 cm × 60 cm). Results revealed that maximum plant height (164.37 cm), numbers of side shoots (15.87) and plant spread (9649.45 cm2) were obtained from 10th October transplanting at 45 cm × 45 cm inter-plant spacing (T5). Flower quality parameters like maximum flower diameter (6.94 cm), flower weight (5.94 g) and shelf life (6.80 days) were recorded from 25th October transplanting at 60 cm × 60 cm inter-plant spacing (T10). However, maximum flower yield per plant (918.57 g), number of flowers per plant (159.27) and maximum seed yield per plant (41.86 g) were recorded with 25th October transplanting at 45 cm × 45 cm inter-plant spacing (T6). Maximum flowering duration (39.40 days) and chlorophyll content (27.84 SPAD value) was also recorded with the same treatment (T6). Since, the main objective of any crop production programme is the yield, so it can be concluded that 25th October transplanting at 45 cm × 45 cm inter-plant spacing is the best treatment combination for annual chrysanthemum under Jammu sub-tropics.