Effect of some fertilizers on botanical and chemical characters of pot marigold plant, Calendula officinalis L.

This study was carried out during the two successive seasons of 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 at the Experimental Nursery of the Ornamental Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, A.R. Egypt. This work was designed to study the effect of different treatments of organic manures (cattle and sheep); biofertilizer (a liquid culture of composite inocula of Azotobacter chroococcum, Azospirillum brasilens, Bacillus polymyxa, Pseudomonas putida, Enterobacter agglomerans and Klebsiella pneuomoniae) and inorganic nitrogenous fertilizer (ammonium sulphate, 20.5% N) on morphology, yield components and chemical composition of pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) plants grown in a sandy soil. Seeds were sown on October 22nd and 24th of the two seasons respectively. The seedlings were transplanted after 40 days from seeding using plastic pots 30 cm in diameter. Each organic manure was added (350 or 700 cm. /pot) 10 days before transplanting. For biofertilizer, soaking roots directly before transplanting for 30 minutes in it+ 25 ml/pot after one month and 25ml/pot one month later. N fertilizer was added (11/2 or 3g/pot) 15,45 and 75 days after transplanting. P and K fertilizers were used as a basal dressing for all treatments. Organic manures treatments with biofertilizer caused more positive effects on plant height, stem length, internode length and diameter, number of secondary branches and leaves/plant, leaf area, flower head diameter and stalk length, number of capitula / plants, fruits weight / capitulum, fruit oil%, fresh and dry weights of leaves, leafless shoot and roots / plant, structure of stem and leaf blade and total chlorophylls (a+b) and carotenoids contents as well as total carbohydrates%, N, P and K% in shoot and roots. The combined treatment of sheep manure (350 cm. /pot) and biofertilizer was the reliable treatment for increasing most of the studied characters.