Impact of biofertilizers and humic acid on growth of ornamental coleus

Abstract

The study titled “Impact of biofertilizers and humic acid on growth and quality of ornamental coleus” was conducted during the summer of 2024 at the College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The experiment was conducted in the Factorial Completely Randomized Design with three replications. The experiment consisting of ten treatment combinations comprising of two factors. Biofertilizer treatments included: B1 (Bio NPK @ 20 ml per pot), B2 (Bio NPK @ 40ml per pot), B3 (AMC @ 5ml per pot), B4 (AMC @ 10ml per pot), and B5 (19:19:19 @ 2g per pot). Humic acid levels were: H1 (humic acid @ 5ml per pot) and H2 (humic acid @ 10ml per pot). B5 (19:19:19 @ 2 g per pot) showed the highest plant height (15.76,20.93,23.54 cm), leaf dry weight (1.38,1.44,4.91 g), shoot dry weight (1.60, 1.93, 4.28 g) at 30,60 and 90 DAP and AGR for height (0.087 cm/day) and AGR for dry matter (0.301 g/day) CGR (1.651 g/m2/day) for 60-90 DAP. Among humic acid treatments, H2 (humic acid @ 10ml per pot) shows maximum plant height (14.76,18.75,20.45 cm), leaf dry weight (1.14, 1.30, 3.70 g), and shoot dry weight (1.41,1.64,3.76 g) at 30,60,90 DAP and AGR for height (0.057 cm/day) and AGR for dry matter (0.202 g/day) CGR (1.107 g/m2/day) for 60-90 DAP. The best interaction was seen in B5H2 (19:19:19 @ 2g + Humic Acid @ 10ml per pot), which recorded the highest plant height (15.74, 21.13, 24.89 cm), leaf dry weight (1.46, 1.54, 5.70 g), shoot dry weight (1.73, 2.00, 4.59 g), root dry weight (2.58, 2.75, 3.03 g) at 30,60,90 DAP. AGR for height (0.125 cm/day), AGR rate for dry matter (0.202 g/day), CGR (2.434) at 30-60, 60-90 DAP.