Response of flower quality and physiological characters of Jasminum sambac (L.) to modified planting system and pruning schedule

Abstract

Increasing planting density in Jasminum sambac (L.) is a recent trend among farmers and an effective strategy for improving flower productivity without affecting the standard of flower buds. This study aimed to establish the effect of varied plant density with different pruning levels on the flower quality during off, peak and lean seasons in J. sambac during 2021-‘22. The treatments comprised of four levels of plant density viz., D₁- one plant pit^-1 (control), D₂ - two plants pit^-1, D₃ - three plants pit^-1, D₄ - four plants pit^-1 and two levels of pruning viz., P₁ - one pruning year^-1(control), P₂ - two prunings  year^-1. The trial was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications. The important traits on flower quality parameters namely the total length of the flower bud, length of the flower bud without corolla tube and corolla tube length, were influenced significantly (P<0.05) by three plants pit^-1 (D₃) and two prunings year^-1 (P₂). But there was no interaction effect between plant density and pruning frequency for these flower quality parameters. The interaction effect was also significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the physiological and biochemical traits, namely chlorophyll content, total phenol content, soluble protein and Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) oxidase activity. The pooled analysis data of the treatment T₆ (D₃P₂) was found superior due to increased plant density combined with alteration in pruning. This performed better with enhanced number of new shoots and produced good quality flower buds through enhancement of physiological activity in all three seasons (off, peak and lean) when compared to conventional planting T₁ (D₁P₁) method.