Studies on the Influence of Planting Season and Weather Parameters on Growth Parameters of Two Different Varieties of G. grandiflorus L.

An experiment was conducted in Factorial Randomized Block Design to investigate the growth and flowering of two gladiolus varieties (V₁-White friendship and V₂-American beauty) in early and late growing seasons. The seasons compared were, planting by first week of July (S₁), September (S₂), December (S₃) and February (S₃). The growth parameters were significantly influenced by the per se and interaction effects of different planting seasons and varieties of gladiolus. Among the varieties, White friendship (V₁) produced the highest values of all the growth parameters viz., days to sprouting, sprouting percentage, plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, dry matter production and days to spike emergence. Among different seasons compared, December planting (S₃) evinced better performance. The results of the correlation between the mean value of growth parameters in different seasons and weather parameters exhibited that the plant height and sprouting percentage were negatively correlated with maximum temperature (within a range of 29.9⁰ C - 35.02⁰ C), minimum temperature (within a range of 22.12⁰ C - 25.70⁰ C) and bright sunshine hours (within a range of 6.25 - 8.85 hrs). However, days taken for sprouting was positively correlated with these weather parameters.