Effect of integrated nutrient management on growth and floral attributes of nerium (Nerium oleander L)

The study was conducted to standardize the integrated nutrient management approach for improving growth and floral attributes of nerium (Nerium oleander L). The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with ten treatments and three replications. One year old pruned plants of three nerium cultivars (Red, White and Pink) were planted at a spacing of 3 x 1 m accommodating five plants per plot. The results revealed that integrated management approach showed significant differences for growth and floral attributes of the plant. Among all the nutrients, organic manures and their combination treatment NPK 120:160:160 g/plant/year along with farmyard manure and biofertilizers exhibited better performance in respect of growth and floral characters viz plant height (152.39 cm), number of primary and secondary branches (6.05 and 14.22 respectively), minimum days taken to flowering from pruning (56.33), increased number of flowers per inflorescence (114.78) and number of inflorescence per plant (25.22), highest length of inflorescence (23.34 cm), single flower weight (0.277 g) and 100-flower weight (26.17 g). Hence the application of inorganic fertilizers combined with organic manures and biofertilizers proved to be a better option for enhancing the growth and flowering characters in one year old pruned plants of nerium as compared to the application of inorganic fertilizers alone.