Vol. 8, Special Issue 8, Part O (2024)

Abstract: In rabi season 2022, a field experiment was conducted to study the effect of foliar application of GA₃ and NAA on growth and flowering characteristics of Annual Chrysanthemum at Experimental Unit, Horticultural Section, College of Agriculture, Nagpur. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications consisting of sixteen treatment combinations. The treatments comprised of foliar spray of two plant growth regulators of different concentrations viz., Gibberellic acid (100 ppm, 150 ppm and 200 ppm) and Napthalene Acetic acid (50 ppm, 100 ppm and 150 ppm) along with control spraying was done 30 and 45 DAT. Results showed that foliar application of gibberellic acid @150 ppm and naphthalene acetic acid @ 100 ppm significantly improved growth parameters like plant height, number of leaves plant^-1, number of branches plant,^-1 stem diameter, plant spread and leaf area and with respect to flowering parameters minimum number of days was required for days to first flower bud initiation after transplanting, days to opening of flower from bud initiation, days to first harvesting, days to 50 percent flowering and maximum blooming period was observed. The interaction effect of gibberellic acid and naphthalene acetic acid for the growth parameters and flowering parameters were found non significant. For these parameters the best treatment combinations was GA₃ @150 ppm and NAA @100 ppm.