To study the influence of integrated nutrient management (INM) on vegetative growth and flowering of summer season bottle gourd. [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.]

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Department of Horticulture, National Post Graduate College Barhalganj Gorakhpur (U. P.), India, during the summer season of 2022-23, to study the influence of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) on vegetative growth and flowering of summer Season Bottle Gourd. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications consisted of nine treatment combinations which allocated randomly in each plot. The plants were planted at 1m X 1.5m spacing in each 6m2 plot size. The data were collected from five randomly selected plant of each treatment and subjected to statistical analysis. The results revealed that the treatment T8 (Poultry Manure @ 2.5t/ha + half N.P.K through chemical fertilizer) significantly found best among the all treatments at all successive growth stages in term of maximum vine height (8.93m), Number of branches (6.65), length of lateral branches (4.04m) and leaf area/plant (506.72cm2) as growth parameters whereas minimum days to 1st male flower (63.30days), days to 1st female flower (66.81days), node no. to 1st female flower (11.94) and more no. of male flower (76.54), maximum no. of female flower (30.06) and lowest percent deformed fruits (10.45%) were found significant as flowering parameters while lowest response for these parameters were recorded with T0 (control) which received only recommended dose of NPK. These results are in support of earliness and higher yield of bottle gourd through INM practices.