Impact of foliar application of Multiplex General Liquid on yield and yield attributing traits of Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii L.) growing under protection

Abstract

Gerbera for being occupier of a prominent position among the top traded cut flowers, it has become a quite profit earning crop that has boosted its cultivation so far. As the quality plays utmost importance for a cut flower as because it must be eye appealing to the consumers; micronutrients are found to play a very crucial role. Multiplex General Liquid is a commercial micronutrient formulation that contains various micronutrients in adequate combination that satisfies the need of micronutrient requirement of plant internally thus enhances the various quality parameters. The current investigation was executed under polyhouse condition at Horticultural Research Station, College of Agriculture, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar during the period starting from October, 2018 up to April, 2019. This experiment was executed following Randomised Block Design with three replications & twelve treatments including a control. Promising results like increased plant height (31.87 cm), leaf area (204.53 cm2), flower stalk length (46.50 cm), diameter of flowering head (10.84 cm), number of flowers per plant (3.63), vase life of cut flowers (6.70 days) and chlorophyll content of leaves (73.02) were obtained when the plants were subjected to foliar application of micronutrient commercial formulation i.e. Multiplex General Liquid @0.2%.