CONTENTS SL. NO. 1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

PARTICULARS Introduction Review of literature pertaining to nutrition in carnation Calyx splitting Conclusion References

PAGE NO.

NUTRITIONAL STUDIES IN CARNATION Introduction Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) belongs to family caryophyllaceae. It is one of the most important cut flowers in the world market. It is ranked sixth in world cut flower trade. Theophrastus in his writings called it as "the flower of the Gods". It is cultivated in USA, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Columbia, Israel, Kenya and Canary Islands in large scale for the production of cut flowers. In the last few years in India numbers of new entrepreneurs are continuously entering in this dynamic field, and many new units have taken up production for export market. In India it is grown in 50 ha in places like, Ludhiana, Nasik, Pune, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Delhi etc.

The development of standard types revolutionized, its trade and replaced other types of carnations because these are highly prized for their large size blooms multicolor long keeping quality, strong stem, highly suitable for floral decorations.

Out of several factors affecting its growth and production, nutrition in one of the most important factors. Proper nutrition is very essential in obtaining optimum plant growth and higher yield of quality flowers. Nutritional requirements have been standardized in other parts of the world. The literature available on nutritional aspects is reviewed below.

Critical Nutrient content (% dry matter) in carnation Nutrient N P K Ca Mg 4.0 0.80 3.2-4.2 1.2 - 1.8 0.20 - 0.40 B (ppm) P2O5 : N K2O : N Ca + Mg : K Ca : B 40-80 0.25 1-1.2 >1 250-450

Some of fertilizer recommendation from different institutions ICAR (m2/annum) N P K Standard type 30g 20 g 109 Spray type 40 g 20 g 10 g

UAS, Bangalore Grams/m2/month From the time of planting upto pinching After pinching upto flowering During flowering N 18.5 19.0 20.0 P 6.4 6.0 6.0 K 14.5 22.5 28.5 Ca 10.2 11.0 12.3 Mg 2.2 2.0 2.0

UAS, Dharwad 250 g N, 80 g P2O5, 200 g K2O, 125 g Ca and 40 g Mg/m2/annum at 12 splits.

Nutritional Deficiency symptoms Nutrient Nitrogen : Deficiency Limited growth of erect plants thin stems and stiff leaves which curve at tip particularly during winters. Yellowing inhibit flower bud initiation. Phosphorus : Reduced growths caules stunted plants with narrow leaves. Leaf turn yellow or pale straw colour. Potassium : Scorching of leaf blade white spot on foliage. Malformed flower loss of petal colour. Calcium : Thin and weak stems. Small flowers production of many sleepy flowers. Boron : Calyx splitting and induces bud abortion, shortened internodes,

Many studies are available related to symptoms of mineral deficiencies in cultivation but information concerning carnations grown under greenhouse and tropical conditions is generally scarce. For a crop that is as old and important as the carnation there is surprisingly little published literature referring to its nutritional requirements. The buffering capacity of a soil and the nature of the greenhouse environment may influence the response of the carnation to N and K fertilization. The optimum requirement of the different nutrients varies due to the species, soil and climatic conditions. There are reports showing varietal differences in the response of plants to the nutrients supplied. The successful production of crops like carnation depends upon many factors but manorial schedule, their time of application and plant density per unit area, play a major role. Relatively few studies of response to micronutrients have been published, and most of our knowledge of micronutrient deficiencies in carnations is derived from experiments in sand or selection culture.

Review of literature pertaining to nutrition in carnation

MukhoPddhya and Sadhu (1988) conducted ail experiment on effect of N, P and K on growth, flowering and chemical composition in College of Agriculture, Calcutta University, Kolkata. The vegetative growth of the plant is primarily determined by added nitrogen and phosphorus. High level of nitrogen (20 g/m2) caused significant increase in plant height and number of branches over other treatments. Conversely plant receiving no additional supply of nitrogen was not only stunted in growth, but also weak, thin and produced less branches (Table1). Although phosphorus significantly increased the plant height the effect was less conspicuous when compared with the nitrogen. Potassium level used in this study showed less direct effect on vegetative growth of plants than did either nitrogen or phosphorus. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization improved flower yield considerably over control. High nitrogen increased the flower two ways.

i)

By increasing the number of primary branches.

ii)

By increasing shoot growth and number of secondary branches and hence the ultimate size of plant thereby increasing the number of potential sites where flowers could develop.

Mukhopadhya and Sadhu (1988) also analyzed different level of N, P and K mineral composition of leaf of carnation.

The leaf analysis results for N, P and K contents indicate that the leaf N was significantly affected by the nitrogen fertilization both vegetative and flowering stage. The leaf N level increased linearly and significantly with the increasing level of N fertilization (Table -2).

Biswas et al. (1982) conducted investigation N, P and K on growth and flower production in Department of Horticulture Garden, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Noida.

The effect of interaction between N x P proved most effective in increasing the height of plant, compared to N x K or P x K. But from N x K and P x K height of plant obtained with higher application of respective nutrient (table -3). In branches and number of flower per plant was recorded higher in N x P compared to N x P and P x K.

Biswas et al. (1982) also analyzed combined effect of treatment N2P2K2 (20 N, 10 g P2O5 and 10 g K2O/m2) significantly promoted height of plant (48. 7), larger number of branches (48.3) per plant, maximum number of flowers (52.0) in each plant. Over the other levels of N, P2O5 and K2O. The treatment NoPoKo had the least effect as the progressively increased in all the parameters with increasing in nutrient levels (Table - 4).

Verma et al. (2003) conducted experiment on response of carnation to foliar application of nitrogen in Department of Floriculture and landscaping in Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Fore::try, Nouni, Solan. Among the interactions D2P2 treatment resulted in maximum K content (3.667%). whereas it was minimum (3.545%) in D1P2. D x N interaction exhibited maximum K content (3.673%), whereas it was minimum (3.545%) in D1P2. D x N interaction exhibited maximum K content (3.673%) in D2N2 which was at par with D2N3 and

minimum (3.506%) with D1No. Maximum P content (0.270) was noticed in D3N3. whereas minimum (0.249%) in D3No (table -5). Increased nitrogen leaf content was observed in October 15 planted with single pinch and1500 ppm foliar N spray.

Jitendra Kumar and Pranv Rana (2003) studied response of nitrogen and IAA in spray carnation in Research Farm. Department of Horticulture, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut.

They find out the optimum dose of nitrogen as basal application and IAA as foliar spray on vegetative and reproductive parameters of spray carnation in cv. Chaubad the 30 g N1M2 gave significantly more height and number of branches as compared to control (Table -6). As table indicates nitrogen play an important role in cell division and protein synthesis which further enhanced vegetative growth. The increase in flower production might be attributed due to the increase in plant height and spread \which encouraged the production of more number of branches and flower buds.

Sunita Devi et al. (2003) studied the effect of different levels of Nitrogen phosphorus on growth of carnation in CV. CABARET in Department of Horticulture, CSS Haryana Agriculture University, Hissar.

Although the plant height was not significantly affected by application of nitrogen and phosphorus but is clear from the (table - 7) that slight increase in plant height resulted due to application of highest doses of nitrogen i.e., 30 g/m2 which was 938.80 cm in comparison control (34.53 cm), increase in plant height might be due to the fact that nitrogen is constituent of protein which is essential for formation of protoplasm. There by affecting the cell division and cell enlargement, ultimately better vegetative growth.

Perusal of data presented in table - 8 clearly indicate increase in number of leaves was due to beneficial effect of nitrogen in promoting growth due to enhanced synthesis, accumulation of proteins and amino acids. Enzymes which are responsible for ceil division and cell elongation has increased. In this study phosphorus alone or in combination with nitrogen could not affect

the growth in terms of number of leaves, Which might be due to fact that the soil experimental site was medium to rich in P (55.5 kg/ha).

Data presented in table-9 indicated that leaf area increased significantly with increasing levels of nitrogen alone and in combination with phosphorus maximum leaf area (1084.33 sq.cm) was observed under 30 g nitrogen.

It is evident from the data given in table-l0, that diameter of stem increased significantly with increase in the level of nitrogen. Maximum diameter of stem (0.80 cm) was observed with 20 g nitrogen further increase in nitrogen decreased the diameter of stem to 0.75 cm. The reason for increase in diameter of stem could be due to positive, response of N applied in appropriate amount which might have caused greater synthesis of carbohydrates and their translocation in plant. Number of branches increased with levels of N. The maximum number of branches per plant (9.63) (Table- 11) were observed when 30 gm N was applied.

Jitendra Kumar et al. (2003) carried out field experiment on effect of Mn and Zn sprays on carnation in Department of Horticulture, C.C.S. University, Meerut. Tallest plants (75.12 cm) and maximum number of branches (28.60) were observed when sprayed with Zn 800 ppm followed by 600 ppm concentration. Mn at 30 ppm also provided significantly superior height and number of branches as compared to control (Table -12).

Earliest flowering (97.80 days) with maximum duration (43.37 days) was observed under 800 ppm Zn. Number of flowers / plant and flower diameter were also observed best under 800 ppm Zn followed by 600 ppm Zn, While significantly poorest in control. Among all the concentration of Mn foliar spray of 30 ppm significantly influenced number of flowers/ plant (33.0) and flower diameter (6.38 cm). However, 400 ppm concentration of Mn had adverse effect on all growth and flowering parameters.

Calyx splitting The splitting of calyx in carnation is a malady which mars the quality of flowers, in this the sepals beneath the flower are united to form a cylndrica1 calyx, which supports the base of

petals. As the bud opens and petals approach their full size, the calyx may split down either half way or completely. It may be due to genetical, environmental and nutritional factors.

Nutritional factors

Arora and Saini (1975) conducted experiment on response of NPK on calyx splitting in College of Agriculture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Calyx splitting \vas reduced as dose of nitrogen increased and thus t. e least calyx-splitting was recorded under N2 treatment. On the contrary the increasing dose of potassium encouraged the calyx splitting (Table - 13).

There was not much effect of phosphorus on calyx splitting. Different combination of N, P and K resulted in a variable degree of calyx splitting. The treatment combination such as N1P1Kl (20, 10, 30 g) N2PoKl (40, 0, 30 g) did not produce any flower with split calyxes, however, NOP1K2 (0, 10, 60 g) produced maximum number (9.0%) of flowers with split calyces. Admas et al. (1979) conducted experiment on effect of Boron, -nitrogen and liming on the bloom production and quality of glasshouse carnation in glasshouse crops Research Institute, Little hampton, W. Sussex, UK. The total number of blooms per m2 increased when 0.5 ppm boron was included in the liquid feed but was depressed by liming. The response to added B tended to be greatest at high pH (7.4) but interaction between B and liming was not significant (Table14). Thus, when B was omitted marketable bloom decreased some what at pH 6.8 arid more markedly at pH 7.4. When B was included in liquid feed, however pH had little effect on the number of marketable blooms produced.

Adams et al. (1979) also studied N and B role on the proportion of blooms graded as special blooms (large blooms > 7.5 cm diameter), calyx split increased with added B, particularly at lower level of N, High N depressed the proportion of specials, the omission of B from the liquid feeds greatly increased the incidence of calyx splitting at low N (Table - 15) but had far

less effect at high N. High level N reduced splitting particularly in absence of added B. The interaction between N and B was significant.

Conclusion Carnation plants need regular and frequent supply of nutrients throughout their life cycle. Thus, the application of nutrients in small doses but more frequently favours better growth and flower production. Carnation requires balanced fertilizer application for better growth and flower. Over feeding results in accumulation of salts in the soil which causes damage to the finer hair roots, preventing the uptake of water and if sever may cause wilting of the plants. Although, adequate supply of both macro and micronutrients is important for carnation production. REFERENCES ADAMS, P., BRENDA, M.A., HART AND WINSOR, G.W., 1979, Some effects of boron, nitrogen and liming on the bloom production and quality of glass house carnations. J. Hort. Sci., 54 (2): 149-154. ARORA, J.S. and Saini, S.S., 1975, response of carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) to various levels of N, P and K fertilization. J. Res., 13:362-66. BISWAS, B., MAITY, R.G., MITRA, S.K. AND MUKHOFADHAY, T.P., 1982, Effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium on growth and flower production in carnation (Dianthus caryophllus L.). Lalbaugh, 27: 30-37. JITENDRA KUMAR AND PRANAVRANA, 2003, Response of nitrogen and carnation. J. Ornamental Hort., 6 (3): 285-286. IAA in spray

JITENDRA KUMAR, AMMIN MIR AND SINGH, P.Y., 2003, Effect of Mn and Zn sprays on carnation. J. Ornamental Hort., 6 (1): 83. MUKHOPADHYAY, A. AND SADHU, M.K., 1988, Effect of N, P and K on growth, flowering and chemical composition of carnation. Indian Agric., 32 (1): 1-6. SUNITA DEVI, GUPTA, A.K. AND SEHRAWAT, S.K., 2003, Effect of different level of nitrogen and phosphorus on growth of carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) cv. Cabaret. Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 32 (3&4): 209-211. VERMA, V.K., SHARMA, V.D. AND GUPTA, Y.C., 2003, Response of carnation of foliar application of nitrogen. J. Ornamental Hort., 6 (2): 8994.