EFFECT OF INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT AND FOLIAR APPLICATION OF MICRONUTRIENTS ON VEGETATIVE AND QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF GLADIOLUS (GLADIOLUS HYBRIDUS HORT.) CV. WHITE PROSPERITY.

A field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of Integrated Nutrient Management and Foliar Application of Micronutrients on Vegetative and Quality Attributes of Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus Hort.) cv. White Prosperity at the Horticulture Research Centre, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut (U.P.) during 2022- 23. The experiment was carried out using a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications including total of twelve treatments. In addition to control, two organic manures, VC and FYM, two micronutrients, ZnSO₄ (0.5%) + FeSO₄ (0.5%) and their combinations with recommended dose of chemical fertilizers are employed. Among these treatments, plants treated with treatment T₈ [75% RDF + FYM (6 t/ha) + VC (2 t/ha) + 0.5% ZnSO₄ + 0.5% FeSO₄ ] performed better in terms of various vegetative and quality attributes, such as minimum days of sprouting, days to spike emergence and days required to opening of first floret and maximum plant height and number of sprouts per corm while, treatment T₇ [75% RDF + VC (4 t/ha) + 0.5% ZnSO₄ + 0.5% FeSO₄ ] gave superior results viz., maximum number of leaves per plant, leaf length, leaf width, fresh weight of floret, number of spikes per plant, per plot and per hectare, corms diameter, weight of corm, weight of cormels per plant, number of corms per plant, number of cormels per plant, corms size and maximum yield of corms per plant and per hectare. However, number of florets per spike, spike diameter, spike longevity, spike length, rachis length and duration of flowering were superior in treatment T₆ [75% RDF + VC (4 t/ha) + 0.5% FeSO₄ ]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]