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Abstract: A two year experiment was conducted on marigold, planted from January to December at one month interval to study the impact of weather on the growth characteristics of crop. Growing Degree Day (GDD) requirement showed remarkable variation during its 105 days duration; it recorded a gradual decline as the planting date was shifted from January to December. GDD requirement ranged from 2444.55 to 1524 degree days in the first year, whereas it ranged from 1869.55 to 1436.70 degree days in the second year. Plant height was significantly and positively correlated to the GDD values upto 60 days after transplanting (DAT) in the first year but upto 75 DAT in the second year. Both the plant spread and number of branch were negatively affected by the GDD significantly. Duration of flower initiation ranged from 50 to 66 days in the first year and 49 to 65 days in the second year. Flower initiation was delayed by 10-16 days when marigold was planted during May to October in both the year. This showed that the flower would come late if the marigold was planted in summer or rainy season. During flowering, Heliothermal unit (HTU) requirement remained above 13000 day degree Celsius hour and HTU requirement was maximum when marigold was planted either in May or in October.

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