Unveiling growth and flowering dynamics: A comparative study of okra genotypes (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench)

Abstract

Twenty-one genotypes of okra were evaluated for growth and flowering parameters during Summer 2024 in randomized block design with three replications at the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Karnataka, India. The characters studied were, Plant height, number of leaves per plant, internodal length, number of nodes per plant and stem girth at 30, 60 and 90 DAS are growth characteristics. The flowering characteristics includes days to first flowering and days to 50 per cent flowering. The results demonstrated that all the genotypes exhibited significant variation in their performance in terms of growth and flowering traits. Among the genotypes, Halu bhendi, Siddapura local and Arbhavi local were found promising for most of the growth and yield-contributing traits under Hill zone of Karnataka. These genotypes could be used further in a breeding program, due to their superior performance for various traits.