MICROBIAL INOCULATION INCREASES THE NUTRIENT UPTAKE EFFICIENCY FOR QUALITY PRODUCTION OF Gladiolus grandiflorus

Gladiolus is a commercially important bulbous cut flower grown for its attractive multi-colored spikes. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of microbial culture on growth and production of gladiolus cultivar White Prosperity, under field conditions. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having five treatments (T0 = control, T1 = Rhizobium, T2 = Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB), T3 = Azotobacter and T4 = Azospirillum) and three replications. The microbial cultures were applied on the corm at planting time using the dip method followed by shade drying before planting. The results revealed that the gladiolus responded well to microbial culture and significant improvement was observed in different vegetative and flowering traits, corms productivity and leaf chemical composition of gladiolus. Among different treatments, considerable increase in both vegetative and reproductive attributes was observed when corms were treated with Azospirillum. Similarly, significant increase in total chlorophyll content, protein contents, total soluble sugars and accumulation of nutrients (N, P and K) was seen in leaves by Azosprillum application followed by Azotobacter.