Abstract:
Rose is a popular cut flower in Sri Lanka and mainly cultivated for the export market.
A pot experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of application ofbanana, orange
and pomegranate fruit peel powder on the growth and flowering of 'Local' rose variety.
The experiment was carried out in a Completely Randomized Design with eight
treatments having four replicates during March to June 2024 at the crop farm, Faculty
ofAgriculture, Eastern University, Sri Lanka. Treatments were, recommended fertilizer
application at basal and topdressing (Tl,Control), half dose of recommended fertilizer
application at basal and topdressing times with 99 of pomegranate peel powder (T2),
99 of orange peel powder (T3), 99 of banana peel powder (T4), 4.5g each of
pomegranate and banana peel powder (T5), 4.5g each of orange and banana peel
powder (T6),4.5g each of orange and pomegranate peel powder (T7) and 39 of each of
orange, pomegranate and banana peel powder (T8) at both times. All parameters, except
the plant biomass were measured in 2 weeks interval. Analysis of Variance was
performed to determine significant difference among treatments fu<00.5). The results
reveal that application of fruit peel powder had significant differences on plant height,
number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, average length of lateral
shoots, leaf area and plant biomass and the highest value was obtained in half dose of
recommended fertilizer application at basal and topdressing times with 39 of each of
orange, pomegranate and banana peel powder (T8) and while the lowest performance
was observed in plant application with half dose of recommended fertllizer application
at basal and topdressing times with 99 of pomegranate peel powder (T2). Among the
all tested treatments, half recommended fertilizer application at basal and topdressing
times with 39 each of orange, pomegranate and banana peel powders at both times
would be the most suitable fruit peel powders to get higher growth and flowering of
Rose.
