Browsing by Author "Mini, Sankar"

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Butterfly gardening: Landscaping for aesthetics and butterfly conservation
(Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2020) Rashidha, C K; Mini, Sankar
Response of tuberose(Polianthes tuberosa L.) to organic manures and growth promoting microorganisms
(Department of Pomology and Floriculture,College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Mini, Sankar; Radha, T
Tuberose is one of the most important bulbous plants, much adored for its colour, elegance and fragrance. Among the commercially cultivated flowers in India tuberose occupies a prime position due to its popularity as cut flower as well as loose flower. It has got great potential in perfume industry also owing to the presence of much valued essential oil. The flower spikes are largely used for vase decoration and bouquet preparation and loose flowers for making garlands and in floral ornaments. The mineral nutrition status can affect the yield and quality of any crop. Tuberose being rich in nutritional status, extracts high amount of nutrients from the soil. Application of huge quantities of fertilizers in the same field becomes essential for taking the ratoon crops and this may lead to destruction of soil properties in addition to increased cost of production. It is now imperative to find an integrated nutrient management schedule for tuberose for an optimum and economic use of plant nutrients to reduce the cost of production and to improve the yield and quality of the flowers. The study consisted of three experiments. Experiment 1 included sixteen different treatments which were the combinations of organic manures and growth promoting microorganisms along with inorganic fertilizers. In Experiment 2, effect of different organic manures alone on growth and yield of tuberose was studied. Single variety Prajwal was used for both the trials. Three superior treatments from Experiment 1 and two from Experiment 2 were selected for conducting the third experiment using single variety Prajwal and double variety Vaibhav. In Experiment 1, the treatments 100:50:50 kg ha–1 NPK + poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1 (T3), 50:50:50 kg ha–1 NPK + poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1 (T14) and 50:50:50 kg ha1 NPK+ coirpith compost 85.71 t ha-1 (T16) exhibited superiority in terms of vegetative and floral characters. In experiment with different organic manures (Experiment 2) treatment with poultry manure alone (T4) and biogas slurry alone had positive influence on both growth and yield attributes. In third experiment it could be observed that all the vegetative parameters were significantly improved by the application of 100:50:50 kg ha-1 NPK + poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1 (T1) in Prajwal and 50:50:50 kg ha-1 NPK+ poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1 (T2) in Vaibhav. Yield attributes like days to first spike emergence, field life of the spike, number of spikes per hill and quality parameters like length and girth of the spike, length of rachis and number of flowers per hill were positively influenced by treatment with poultry manure alone (29.63 t ha-1) in Prajwal. In Vaibhav also treatment with poultry manure alone (29.63 t ha-1) produced highest number of spikes per hill, where as quality parameters of the spike were improved by the application of poultry manure along with inorganic fertilizers. (100:50:50 kg ha-1 NPK + poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1). Concrete content of flowers (which indicates the percentage of essential oil) improved in T5 (biogas slurry alone) in both the varieties. The superiority of the treatment with poultry manure was also reflected in post harvest studies. From plant nutrient analysis, it could be observed that poultry manure either alone (29.63 t ha-1) or in combination with chemical fertilizers (100:50:50 kg ha-1 NPK + poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1 and 50:50:50 kg ha-1 NPK + poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1) recorded highest N and P content of leaves and tubers in both the varieties, where as treatment of coir pith compost along with inorganic fertilizers exhibited maximum K content. Soil properties like pH, organic carbon, available N, P and K were found to be improved by the treatment consisting of poultry manure. Regarding the economics of cultivation, treatment with poultry manure alone (29.63 t ha-1) recorded maximum net income and highest B/C ratio in both the varieties (3.2 in Prajwal and 2.5 in Vaibhav) followed by 100:50:50 kg ha–1 NPK + Poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1and 50:50:50 kg ha-1 NPK + poultry manure 22.2 t ha-1 . Considering overall performance, application of poultry manure at the rate of 29.63 t ha-1 as basal dose was proved to be highly beneficial for growth and yield improvement in tuberose.
Standardization of alternate media for potted ornamental foliage plants for export purpose
(Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2020) Rashida, C K; Mini, Sankar
Standardization of growing media and growth regulators for rose (Rosa ssp.) under top ventilated rain shelter
(Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Sijo, John; Mini, Sankar
Standardization of soilless medium and foliar nutrients for potted ornamental foliage plants
(Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture, Vellanikkara, 2021) Chaitra, K; Mini, Sankar
The study entitled “Standardization of soilless medium and foliar nutrients for potted ornamental foliage plants” was conducted at the Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture at the College of Agriculture, Vellanikkara during 2020-21. The objective of the study was to standardize soilless medium and foliar nutrients for potted ornamental foliage plants and to work out the economics. Growing media combinations comprised of cocopeat, coco chips, vermicompost, neem cake, perlite and vermiculite in different proportions and foliar nutrients like NPK-19:19:19 and seaweed extract were evaluated to standardize the ideal potting medium and foliar nutrients for raising potted foliage plants. The experiment was laid out in CRD (factorial) with 5 different growing media viz., M1: cocopeat (50%) + vermicompost (30%) + perlite (10%) + vermiculite (10%), M2: cocopeat (50%) + vermicompost (20%) + neem cake (10%) + perlite (10%) +vermiculite (10%), M3: coco chips (50%) + vermicompost (30%) + Perlite (10%) + Vermiculite (10%), M4: coco chips (50%) + vermicompost (20%) + neem cake (10%) + perlite (10%) + vermiculite (10%) and M5: cocopeat (60%) + vermicompost (20%) + perlite (20%) and 2 different foliar nutrients viz., N1 : NPK-19:19:19 at 2 g/L and N2: seaweed extract (IFFCO-Sagarika) at 10ml/L with 10 treatment combinations viz., T1: M1 x N1, T2: M2 x N1, T3: M3 x N1, T4: M4 x N1, T5: M5 x N1, T6: M1 x N2, T7: M2 x N2, T8: M3 x N2, T9: M4 x N2, T10: M5 x N2 each with three replications. Popular ornamental foliage plant Philodendron xanadu was used in the experiment. Vegetative characters are important parameters for potted ornamental foliage plants as they decide the attractiveness and presentability. There was a significant variation with respect to all vegetative parameters due to growing media. M2 and M4 were on par and statistically superior with respect to plant height, plant spread, leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, leaf longevity, leaf production interval, leaf area, shoot girth, shoot length, fresh and dry weights of the leaves. In general, it could be observed that plants grown in M2 and M4 had all quality criteria for potted ornamental foliage plants. Root parameters determine the nutrient uptake, translocation and growth of the plants. During the experiment, significant influence of growing media was observed only on root length, no. of laterals and root volume. Greatest no. of lateral roots as well as longest roots were observed in M2 and M4, whereas maximum root volume was noticed in M1 and M4. With respect to fresh and dry weights of the roots, no significant difference was noticed due to the growing media. The physicochemical properties of the media are important with respect to plants growth as they determine the growth of the root system and availability of nutrients. Medium M4 had low bulk density and highest porosity which are desirable for growth of roots while medium M5 was found to have highest water holding capacity. pH and EC of all the growing media were within the optimal range. Media M2 and M4 were observed to be promising with respect to plant nutrient content as well as plant nutrient uptake and total chlorophyll content. During the experiment, both NPK19:19:19 and seaweed extract were applied as a foliar spray at fortnightly intervals. Application of foliar nutrients were found to be nonsignificant with respect to vegetative parameters viz., plant spread, number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, leaf longevity, leaf production interval, leaf area, shoot girth, shoot length, fresh and dry weights of the leaves and root parameters viz., fresh and dry weights of the roots, no. of lateral roots and root volume. However foliar nutrients were found to have a significant impact on plant height and root length. Application of N1 recorded the greatest plant height whereas application of N2 was found to have the greatest root length. Application of foliar nutrients had significant influence only with respect to nitrogen content and highest nitrogen content was observed with application of N1 Growing media M4 and M2 performed well with respect to vegetative parameters, root parameters, physico-chemical properties of the media. Compact growth of plants and weightless growing media are desirable for interior scaping. Plants grown in M4 and M2 were found to have compact growth. These media were light in weight and cost was found less. Efficacy of both nutrient formulations were found to be the same and it may be concluded that use of N2 is beneficial as seaweed extract is organic fertilizer which contains sufficient amount of nutrients and growth promoting hormones. Hence the media M4 as well as M2 in combination with N2 (seaweed extract) can be recommended for compact growth of potted ornamental foliage plants for interior scaping.