Effect of Jeevamrit on growth and flowering of iris (Iris orientalis mill) cv frigia

The present investigations were carried out to study the effect of Jeevamrit on growth and flowering of iris (Iris orientalis Mill) cv Frigia at the research farm of Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh during 2019-20 in randomized block design. Sixteen treatments of Jeevamrit were applied both as drench as well as foliar spray at 15 days interval which were replicated thrice. Maximum days taken to visible flower bud formation (113.87 and 113.40), to first flower opening (124.40 and 124.67), number of leaves per plant (10.00 and 10.13), plant height (87.22 and 86.62 cm), spike length (64.57 and 63.90 cm), floret size (13.39 and 13.20 cm), fresh weight of cut stems (40.59 and 40.87 g), vase life (11.53 and 11.40 days) and flower duration (10.17 and 9.83 days) were recorded in the treatments comprising 5.0 per cent Jeevamrit drenching + 10.0 per cent Jeevamrit foliar application and 5.0 per cent Jeevamrit drenching + 15.0 per cent Jeevamrit foliar application respectively, the two treatments being statistically at par and superior to all other treatments. However, the treatment 5.0 per cent Jeevamrit drenching + 10.0 per cent Jeevamrit foliar application resulted in maximum number of florets per spike (3.87) followed by the treatment 5.0 per cent Jeevamrit drenching + 15.0 per cent Jeevamrit foliar application (3.60). In case of stem diameter, the treatments 5.0 per cent Jeevamrit drenching + 10.0 per cent Jeevamrit foliar application, 5.0 per cent Jeevamrit drenching + 15.0 per cent Jeevamrit foliar application and 7.5 per cent Jeevamrit drenching + 5.0 per cent Jeevamrit foliar application resulted in maximum stem diameter of 6.80, 6.73 and 6.64 cm respectively as compared to all other treatments. Thus the application of Jeevamrit as 5.0 per cent drenching along with 10.0 or 15.0 per cent foliar application was proved most effective in enhancing the growth and flowering of iris cv Frigia.