Effect of growing media on growth and flowering of potted marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) irrigated with treated sewage water

The present study was undertaken with an objective to evaluate the effect of different soil-based and soilless growing media compositions supplemented with treated municipal sewage water and tap water in different ratios on growth and flowering of potted marigold. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design comprising four media substrates (Soil, burnt rice husk [BRH], farmyard manure [FYM] and cocopeat [CP]) mixed in four different proportions (M1 to M4) and five irrigation levels (I1 to I5) of different combinations of tap water (TW) and treated sewage water (TSW). Results revealed that the media substrate composition (M4) comprising CP + BRH + FYM (25:25:50) was found to be suitable for sustaining the growth of potted marigold plants. The media had relatively higher percent N, P & K with acceptable pH and EC. The marigold plants raised in M4 media irrigated with TSW (100%) preformed significantly well for vegetative and floral characters, essential for a specimen display without any visual phytotoxicity symptoms. Number of flowers per plant and days to flowering duration were observed significantly higher in M4 compared to other media treatments. The analysis of TSW (100%) revealed higher N (0.91 ppm), P (1.67 ppm), K (24.13 ppm) with pH (7.73) and EC (2.10 ds m(-1)) in acceptable range.