Effect of irrigation schedule and fertigation of water soluble and nano fertilizer on growth and flowering of gerbera in greenhouse

The experiment was carried out during the years 2023–24 and 2024–25 at the Greenhouse Complex, Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, ASPEE College of Horticulture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari with the objective to evaluate the effects of different drip irrigation levels and fertigation levels using water-soluble and nano fertilizers on the growth and flowering of Gerbera jamesonii cv. Terra Kalina is grown under protected cultivation. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design using a factorial concept with main factor comprising of three drip irrigation levels (I1: 0.6 PEF, I2: 0.8 PEF and I3: 1.0 PEF) and sub factor of three fertigation levels (F1- 19:19:19 NPK 0.12 gm/plant + 00:00:50 NPK 0.12 gm/plant (water soluble fertilizer), F2- 19:19:19 NPK 0.03 gm/plant + 00:00:50 NPK 0.03 gm/plant (Nano fertilizer) and F3- 17:44:00 NPK 0.03 gm/plant + 13:00:45 NPK 0.03 gm/plant (Nano fertilizer)), involving different combinations of water-soluble and nano NPK fertilizers. Treatments were applied on alternate days throughout the crop cycle of two year. The pooled analysis over two years revealed that both individual and interaction effects of irrigation and fertigation treatments significantly influenced on vegetative growth and flowering as well as yield. Among all treatment combinations, the plants treated with I1F2 – 0.6 PEF drip irrigation level and fertigation level (19:19:19 NPK 0.03 g/plant + 00:00:50 NPK 0.03 g/plant (Nano fertilizer) recorded the highest plant height (36.10 cm), maximum number of leaves (36.29), maximum plant spread (37.29 cm) and maximum leaf area (36.96 cm²) with highest flower yield (48.05 flowers/plant/year), maximum flower diameter (9.19 cm), longest stem length (63.10 cm) as well as extended vase life (10.89 days) of gerbera. The present study indicate that the combination of I1F2 proved to be the most efficient in terms of maximizing growth and flower yield. There is need to standardize the irrigation level and fertilizer dose to increase the water use efficiency and fertilizer use efficiency. This research work accomodates sustainable and water-efficient strategy for gerbera cultivation under greenhouse conditions, particularly in regions facing water scarcity.