Effect of organic nutrient management on plant growth and flower production of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Narengi Gainda in mid hills of Sikkim

The present experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture (Central Agricultural University, Imphal), Bermiok, Sikkim during winter season of 2022–2023 to study the effect of organic nutrients on the growth, flowering and yield production of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda. The experimental design was laid out in a randomized block design (RBD) with 3 replication and eight treatment combinations, viz. T1: Farmyard manure (FYM) (20 t/ha), T2: Poultry manure (PM) (6 t/ha), T3: Goat manure (GM)(10 t/ha), T4: FYM+ PSB (200 g/m2), T5: FYM + Vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) (100 g/m2), T6: FYM + PSB + VAM, T7: FYM+ PM +GM with control (T8). The experimental results showed that maximum plant height (56.45 cm), plant spread (41.13 cm), stem girth (1.00 cm), number of branches per plant (26.06), days to flower bud initiation (44.50), days to 50 % flowering (70.96), flowering duration (86.00), number of flowers/plant (34.22), flower diameter (7.18 cm), length of flower stalk (6.76 cm), weight of the flower (13.00 g) and flower yield/plant (709.56 g) was observed with T7 and lowest was observed in control. Hence among all the treatments T7: FYM + PM +GM has a positive impact on plant growth, flower and yield attributes of African Marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda.