combined effect of humic acid and npk on growth and flower development of tulipa gesneriana in faisalabad, pakistan

An experiment was conducted in green house during 2011-2012 toelucidate the impact of application of npk alone and in combination withdifferent levels of humic acid (ha) and also to identify which combination isoptimum to improve growth and floral attributes of tulip. five treatmentscomprising t0: (control), t1: 10g/m2 npk (17:17:17), t2: ha 0.75ml (8%) +10g/m2 npk (17:17:17), t3: ha 1.00 ml (8%) + 10g/m2 npk (17:17:17) andt4: ha 1.25ml (8%) + 10g/m2 npk (17:17:17) were replicated thrice andarranged following randomized completely block design (rcbd). all thevegetative and reproductive parameters were significantly enhanced by theaddition of humic aid and npk. the obtained results revealed that treatmentt4 was the most effective compared with the other treatments and gave theinimitable outcomes concerning earliest sprouting and flowering, plant heightincrement, leaf area expansion, stem diameter, leaf chlorophyll contents, stalklength, vase life, fresh and dry flower biomass. t4 also showed the maximumnutrient contents followed by t3 and t2 when compared with control. theplants grown without ha and npk application (control) followed by a singleapplication of npk (t1) exhibited poor growth with reduced yield of inferiorquality. combined application of ha and npk is recommended to getimproved and uniformed crop stand, plant growth and flower quality.