Combined Effect of Humic Acid and NPK on Growth and Flower Development of Tulipa gesneriana in Faisalabad, Pakistan

An experiment was conducted in green house during 2011-2012 to elucidate the impact of application of NPK alone and in combination with different levels of humic acid (HA) and also to identify which combination is optimum to improve growth and floral attributes of Tulip. Five treatments comprising T0: (control), T1: 10g/m2 NPK (17:17:17), T2: HA 0.75ml (8%) + 10g/m2 NPK (17:17:17), T3: HA 1.00 ml (8%) + 10g/m2 NPK (17:17:17) and T4: HA 1.25ml (8%) + 10g/m2 NPK (17:17:17) were replicated thrice and arranged following Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD). All the vegetative and reproductive parameters were significantly enhanced by the addition of humic aid and NPK. The obtained results revealed that treatment T4 was the most effective compared with the other treatments and gave the inimitable outcomes concerning earliest sprouting and flowering, plant height increment, leaf area expansion, stem diameter, leaf chlorophyll contents, stalk length, vase life, fresh and dry flower biomass. T4 also showed the maximum nutrient contents followed by T3 and T2 when compared with control. The plants grown without HA and NPK application (control) followed by a single application of NPK (T1) exhibited poor growth with reduced yield of inferior quality. Combined application of HA and NPK is recommended to get improved and uniformed crop stand, plant growth and flower quality.