Author(s): S. KUMARI, T. K. CHOWDHURI AND T. MANDAL

Abstract: Orchids are known for their long lasting and beautiful flowers which fetch a very high price in the international market. Dendrobium is the second largest member in the orchidaceae family with nearly 1600 valid species in the world. Application of chemical fertilizers alone in high does in the field makes adverse effects on soil health and environment also. Use of biofertilzer along with chemical fertilizers is beneficial as biofertilizers are the products containing living cells of different types of microorganisms which have an ability to enhance mineralization process. The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of different bio-fertilizers individually or in combinations on growth and flowering behavior of Dendrobium orchid (Dendrobium var. Sonia) under naturally ventilated hitech polyhouse. Three biofertilizers viz., Azospirillium, PSB and VAM were applied in nine different treatment combinations along with vermicompost. Uniform sized tissue cultured plants were established in cocoblock (30.48 × 22.86 sq.cm) and treatments were started after one year of plant growth. Significant variation was observed among the different treatments. Most luxuriant plant growth in terms of plant height (58 cm), number of leaves (12.7), leaf area (80.4 sq.cm) and number of pseudo bulbs (4.2 plant-1) was found in vermicompost @ 500g pot-1 + PSB @ 2g pot-1 + Azospirillium @ 2g pot-1 whereas vermicompost @ 500g pot-1 + Azospirillium @ 2g pot-1 + VAM @ 2g pot-1 + PSB @ 2g pot-1 recorded excellent performance on flower production in terms of number of spikes plant-1 (7.5), number of flowers spike-1 (8.6), spike length (46.7 cm), flower length (10.38 cm), flower breath (10.01cm) and pedicel length (25.5 cm).

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