Effects of Vermi-compost and Two Bacterial Bio-fertilizers on some Quality Parameters of Petunia

Abstract

The present research was conducted to study the effect of vermi-compost and two bio-fertilizer applications on growth, yield and quality of petunia (Petunia hybrida). The experiment laid out in randomized block design with 3 replications and 9 treatment combinations composing of vermi-compost, bio-fertilizers and NPK fertilizer. The treatment receiving Azospirillum sp. + Phosphate solubilizing bacterium + Vermicompost + NPK (25% of recommended dose) recorded the highest plant height, number of branches, plant spread, leaf area index, dry matter accumulation and yield attributes such as number of flowers per plant, number of flowers per plot, flower yield/plant, flower yield/plot. The early flower bud initiation, 50 percent flowering and more flowering duration was achieved in the treatment receiving Azospirillum sp. + Phosphate solubilizing bacterium + Vermicompost + NPK (25% of recommended dose). Application of Azospirillum sp. + Phosphate solubilizing bacterium + Vermicompost + NPK (25% of recommended dose) registered significantly higher quality parameters such as flower diameter.

Yield and quality of chrysanthemum as influenced by integrated nutrient management

“…In combination of vermicompost, biofertilizer with chemical fertilizers increased the soil microorganism, promotes the microbial population, support to better aeration to plant root, increases the availability of macro and micronutrients and thereby uptake by the plants resulting better number of flowers per plant. Similar findings were registered by Moghadam and Shoor (2013) [8] , Palagani et al (2013) [9] , Bohra and Kumar (2014) [2] and Patanwar et al (2014) [11] in chrysanthemum, Singh et al (2015) [12] in marigold, Mahadik et al (2017) a [6] and Mahadik et al (2017) b [7] in chrysanthemum This may be due to Azotobacter which provides more amounts of nitrogen by fixing it through atmosphere. Similarly, PSB helped in increasing phosphorus availability by releasing enzymes.…”

Natural occurrence of Azospirillum brasilense in petunia with capacity to improve plant growth and flowering

“…There are many reports describing isolation and growth promotion effects of Azospirillum in agronomically important crops, but little attention has been given to determine the effectiveness of the use of PGPB in ornamental crops [2,7,8]. There are few reports regarding the use of Azospirillum to improve the quality of petunia plants [9–11], but none of them considering its natural association. It is known that the level of response to Azospirillum inoculation can be defined by the genetic characteristics of both bacteria and host plant [12].…”