International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.4, 207-217 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 212 3.1.3 Length of leaves The length of leaves were found to have longer on mulched plots compared to non-mulched plots. The length of leaves was affected by mulching materials (Table 4). Length of leaves were increasing significantly (P<0.05) at 30 DAT (13.2 cm) where longest length was observed on white polythene mulch followed by neem leaves, straw mulch and the shortest length was recorded on control. Similarly, length of leaves was increasing significantly (P<0.01) at 60 DAT where the longest length was found on white polythene mulch followed by neem leaves, straw mulch and the least was recorded on control. Similarly, length of leaves were increasing significantly (P<0.01) at 60 DAT (32.7 cm) where longest length was recorded on straw mulch followed by banana leaves, white polythene and the shortest length was observed on control. Mulched treatments plots whether organic or inorganic had larger leaves number than non-mulched control plots at all stages. Table 4 Effect of mulching on length of leaves Treatments 30DAT 60DAT 100DAT Control 9.9c 18.3c 43.0e Sawdust mulch 10.7bc 28.3ab 46.1de Straw mulch 12.4ab 30.3a 55.4a Banana leaves mulch 11.6abc 28.6ab 55.2a Neem leaves mulch 13.1a 31.2a 51.4bc White polythene mulch 13.2a 32.7a 52.5ab Rice husk mulch 10.9bc 21.4bc 49.2cd Pvalue 0.044 0.009 <0.001 LSD 2.19 7.6 3.3 CV(%) 10.6 15.7 3.7 Grandmean 11.7 27.3 50.4 SEM(±) 0.34 1.42 1.02 Note: LSD= Least significant difference, SEM= Standard error of mean, CV= Coefficient of variation, P value= Probability value 3.1.4 Neck thickness The result showed that neck thickness was affected by mulching materials (Table 5). Neck thickness was increased significantly (P<0.001) at 30 DAT, 60 DAT and 100 DAT. The maximum neck thickness at 30 DAT was recorded on rice husk mulch followed by white polythene, neem leaves and the minimum was observed on control. Similarly, the maximum neck thickness at 60 DAT was observed on white polythene mulch followed by neem leaves, banana leaves and the minimum was found on control. Likewise, at 100 DAT the maximum neck thickness was observed on white polythene mulch followed by straw, banana leaves and the minimum neck thickness was recorded on control. This shows that the mulching material had good effect on neck thickness as compared to control. Table 5 Effect of mulching on neck thickness Treatments 30DAT 60DAT 100DAT Control 0.4b 0.6e 1.5e Sawdust mulch 0.4b 0.9cd 2.2d Straw mulch 0.4b 0.8d 2.6b Banana leaves mulch 0.4b 0.9c 2.6bc Neem leaves mulch 0.5a 1.1b 2.2d White polythene mulch 0.5a 1.2a 3.03a Rice husk mulch 0.5a 0.9d 2.4cd Pvalue <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 LSD 0.03 0.06 0.3 CV(%) 3.3 3.6 6.2 Grandmean 0.4 0.9 2.4 SEM(±) 0.01 0.04 0.10 Note: LSD= Least significant difference, SEM= Standard error of mean, CV= Coefficient of variation, P value= Probability value
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