Evaluation of Marigold (Tagetes erecta) Varieties for Growth, Flowering, and Floral Attributes at Three Localities of Nepal

Marigolds are very common in plant kingdoms used for ornamentation, religious offering, cosmetic production, medicinal purposes, and animal feed. The study was conducted to evaluate four marigold varieties, i.e., ‘Karma Orange’, ‘Karma-I-Orange’, ‘Karma-555-Orange’, and ‘Karma-777-Orange’, for their vegetative, floral, and yield attributes. The experiment was laid out on a Randomized Complete Block Design at three localities of Nepal including Kaski, Kathmandu, and Lalitpur districts and was conducted from August 2019 to January 2020. Data on predetermined parameters were collected and analyzed using R-program (version 4.0.5). The location of the varieties and the interaction between them showed significant variations for almost all parameters. Marigold production was more favorable under the Kaski conditions as plant height, plant spread, number of flowers/plant, and yield were higher than those in other locations. In addition, the number of days taken by marigold varieties for the formation of flower bloom was significantly lower in the Kaski conditions. The variety ‘Karma Orange’ had the maximum height (81.88 ± 5.18 cm), which is very susceptible for lodging, and had the minimum number of flowers (83.2 ± 3.78). The variety ‘Karma-555-Orange’ produced the highest numbers of flowers/plant (104.38 ± 9.46) and had medium-sized flowers with perfect ball shape, which is very suitable for making garlands. However, the variety ‘Karma-777-Orange’ had medium plant height (51.49 ± 2.67), produced not significantly different number of flowers than ‘Karma-555-Orange’ (101.64 ± 6.57) and yield (1.86 ± 0.1 kg/plant). It is suitable for bedding, potting, and cut flower production.