Characterization of marigold genotypes using morphological characters

A field experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of Department of Horticulture, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar during two winter seasons of 2011–12 and 2012–13. Thirty genotypes of marigold were selected and their different morphological characters both at vegetative and flowering stages were determined and categorized on the basis of their plant characters. All the genotypes showed significant variations for different growth, flowering and yield parameters. The maximum plant height (103.75 cm) was recorded in genotype MGH-09-303 and minimum (32.40 cm) in Hisar Beauty. The maximum number of branches per plant (24.50) was recorded in genotype Hisar Jaffri-2. The highest fresh weight of plant (1122.42 g) was found in genotype MGH-148-3-3, which was statistically at par with Hisar Jaffri-2 (1115.59 g) and significant to all other genotypes, whereas it was lowest (78.76 g) in Hisar Beauty. Among these genotypes, Hisar Beauty took minimum days to first flower opening (37.90 days), whereas the maximum days to first flower opening (64.60 days) were recorded in Hisar Jaffri-2. The maximum fresh weight of flower (15.57 g) was recorded in genotype MGH-09-271, whereas it was the minimum in Hisar Beauty (2.32 g). The genotype Hisar Jaffri-2 exhibited better performance in terms of number of flowers per plant (189.00) and flower yield per plant (874.37 g).