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Growth and yield response of marigold to potting media containing

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DOI: 10.1007/s10669-009-9251-3

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Environmentalist (2010) 30:123–130
DOI 10.1007/s10669-009-9251-3
Growth and yield response of marigold to potting media
containing vermicompost produced from different wastes
Pritam Sangwan • V. K. Garg • C. P. Kaushik
Published online: 6 January 2010
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
Abstract Investigations were made to assay the influence
of vermicomposts, prepared from (i) cow dung (CD) and
(ii) sugar mill wastewater treatment plant sludge spiked
with horse dung, on the growth and productivity of mari-
gold plants in pot culture experiments. The soil was used as
potting media, and vermicomposts were amended with it in
10, 20, 30 and 40% ratio. A total of nine different potting
media were prepared. The fertility status of soil and ver-
micomposts was quantified. There were significant differ-
ences in the fertilizer quality of soil and both the
vermicomposts. Maximum numbers of flowers was pro-
duced in the potting media containing 30% of CD vermi-
compost and minimum was reported in control (soil
without amendments). The diameter of biggest flower was
reported in the potting media containing 40% of sugar mill
wastewater treatment plant sludge vermicompost. Results
showed that the addition of vermicompost, in appropriate
quantities, to potting media has synergistic effects on
growth and flowering of plants including number of buds,
number of flowers, plant shoot biomass, root biomass, plant
height and diameter of flowers.
Keywords Vermicompost
Marigold
Horse dung

Filter cake
Potting media
P. Sangwan
V. K. Garg (&)
C. P. Kaushik
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guru
Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar,
Haryana 125001, India
e-mail: vinodkgarg@yahoo.com
1 Introduction
Large volumes of organic wastes from various types of
industries are produced all over the world, and their safe
disposal is a great challenge for the municipalities, indus-
trialists and scientific communities. These are a major
source of air, water and soil pollution. The sugar mill
wastewater treatment plant sludge, commonly known as
filter cake (FC), is one among them but it is a rich source of
organic matter and minerals which determines natural
fertility of soil and provides good possibilities for gainful
utilization through vermicomposting (Sangwan et al.
2008a). Waste recycling and its use as soil or potting
amendments could be one of the most attractive methods of
solving the problem of waste disposal (Ostos et al. 2008).
There has been a growing awareness to reduce the
inorganic fertilizers application to soils at global level to
avoid their adverse effects. Vermicomposts are stabilized
and nonthermophilic products, which are produced by the
interactions of earthworms and microorganisms and have a
great potential as soil amendments (Arancon et al. 2004).
Wastes cannot directly be applied to the soil since these
can destroy the natural fertility of the soil and may lead to
phytotoxicity. Vermicomposting of these wastes can make
them suitable for soil application and ensures their safe
disposal in the environment. The vermicomposts is very
different from the original organic wastes in texture,
porosity, aeration, nutrient value and water holding
capacity because of decomposition and humification. In
comparison with parent materials, vermicomposts have less
soluble salts, greater cation exchange capacity and
increased total humic acid contents (Albanell et al. 1988).
Vermicomposts also have been reported to contain bio-
logically active substrates such as plant growth regulators
(Grappelli et al. 1987; Tomati et al. 1987, 1990). The plant
123
124
nutrients such as nitrates, exchangeable phosphorus, solu-
ble potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc. are present in
such forms that are taken up by plants readily (Edwards
and Burrows 1988; Orozco et al. 1996). A bibliographic
survey has shown that vermicompost quality depends on
the raw waste used to prepare it which in turn determines
its applicability in fields (Garg et al. 2007).
A number of reports are available on the vermicompo-
sting of different wastes, but the studies on the application
of vermicomposts prepared from different wastes in potting
media are few (Edwards and Burrows 1988; Wilson and
Carlile 1989; Atiyeh et al. 1999). Arancon et al. (2008)
examined the influence of vermicomposts produced from
cattle manure, food wastes and paper wastes on petunia (an
ornamental plant), and results showed that germination,
growth and flowering of petunia plants were enhanced due
to the application of vermicompost. The effects of neem
(Azadirachta indica) vermicompost were studied on the
growth and yield of Brinjal (Solanum melongena) by
Gajalakshami and Abbasi (2004). Atiyeh et al. (2000) have
reported the influence of pig manure vermicompost on the
growth and yield of greenhouse tomatoes. The effects of
earthworm-processed vermicomposts produced from food
waste and paper waste on the growth and yield of peppers
have been reported by Arancon et al. (2005).
It is essential to characterize the growing media, which
greatly affect plant growth before its applications (Grigatti et al.
2007). Sangwan et al. (2008a) have reported the production of
vermicompost from filter cake and horse dung mixture. The
present investigation was undertaken to investigate the opti-
mum application rates of filter cake spiked with horse dung
vermicompost in the potting media. Marigold, belongs to the
family Asteraceae or Compositae, is one of the most important
flowering crops in India and is grown at large scale for the
beautification of landscapes, internal decoration and for mak-
ing garlands but very few studies have focused on growth and
productivity of ornamental plants in organic potting media
(Arancon et al. 2008), hence further work is still needed in this
direction. So, marigold was used as a test plant, and CD
vermicompost was used for the comparison of the results.
2 Materials and methods
Soil was collected from the agricultural fields of G. J.
University of Science & Technology, Hisar. It was sandy-
loam (Ustic Haplocambid) in nature with average phos-
phorus, sufficient potassium and deficit nitrogen content.
The CD vermicompost produced from cow dung was
collected from a vermicomposting plant located at a village
in Hisar (India). Vermicomposts produced from filter cake
spiked horse dung was prepared by the authors using Eisenia
123
Environmentalist (2010) 30:123–130
fetida earthworm species (Sangwan et al. 2008a). To prepare
FC vermicompost, a total of 10 kg of waste mixture con-
taining 30% FC in horse dung (on dry weight basis) was
vermicomposted using Eisenia fetida earthworm species for
15 weeks. The experiment was conducted in the Energy
Park of G. J. University of Science & Technology, Hisar
(India). This is a semiarid zone with extremes of temperature
from -2°C in winter to 48°C in summers and low rainfall
restricted mainly during July and August.
The marigold seedlings were procured from a local plant
nursery located at Hisar (India). All the plants were in a
three and half leaf stage and almost of the same size when
planted.
A total of nine treatments were prepared by the combi-
nations of different doses of specific vermicomposts with
soil. All the manures were applied as preplant fertilizer, and
no additional manure was added during the experiment at
any stage. Three replicates were maintained for each potting
media. Twenty-seven potting media of 20L capacity were
established having soil amendments of 10, 20, 30 and 40%
with specific vermicomposts and soil acted as a control. The
composition of different potting media was as under:
1. Soil (S)––control
2. T1CDV-10% CD vermicompost ? soil
3. T2CDV-20% CD vermicompost ? soil
4. T3CDV-30% CD vermicompost ? soil
5. T4CDV-40% CD vermicompost ? soil
6. T1FHDV-10% FC vermicompost ? soil
7. T2FHDV-20% FC vermicompost ? soil
8. T3FHDV-30% FC vermicompost ? soil
9. T4FHDV-40% FC vermicompost ? soil
Abbreviations used: T = treatment, CDV = Vermi-
compost, FHDV = Filter cake ? horse dung vermicom-
post.
The vermicomposts were thoroughly mixed with soil
before planting the seedlings in pots. After plantation, the
different potting media were irrigated with tap water as and
when required. On 40th, 70th, 101th and 130th day, plant
heights (distance from the potting mixture level to top of
the node), total leaf numbers (including cotyledons), total
number of buds, total number of flowers and diameter of
the biggest flower were recorded.
At the end of the experiment, plants were removed
carefully from the potting media and separated in root and
shoot. Then fresh root and shoot biomass was measured.
The leaf samples were collected from the plants to deter-
mine the chlorophyll and carotenoids content.
After harvesting, soil samples were collected from each
potting media, dried at room temperature and packed in
airtight plastic containers for physicochemical analysis.
The physicochemical analysis was done on dry weight
basis. All the chemicals used were analytical reagent (AR)
Environmentalist (2010) 30:123–130 125

grade supplied by S.D. Fine Chemicals, Mumbai, India. Table 1 Initial nutrient composition of different substrates (on total
Double distilled water was used for analytical work. solid basis)
The pH was determined by pH system 361 Systronics, Constituents Soil (Control) CD FC
using double distilled water suspension of each mixture in vermicompost vermicompost
ratio of 1:10 (w/v). Electrical conductivity (EC) of water
pH 8.8 ± 0.5 6.4 ± 0.7 7.6 ± 0.6
suspension of each mixture in the ratio of 1:10 (w/v) was
EC (lS/cm) 100 ± 11 6480 ± 74 6,040 ± 94
determined by conductivity meter (Elico 180 model) using
OM (%) 3.6 ± 0.4 52.7 ± 11 58.9 ± 13
0.01 N KCl as standard. Total organic carbon (TOC) was
TOC (g/kg) 21.0 ± 04 301 ± 43 342 ± 44
measured using the wet digestion method of Walkley and
TKN (g/kg) 1.1 ± 0.3 14.8 ± 1.6 19.6 ± 1.8
Black (1934). Total Kjeldhal nitrogen (TKN) was deter-
T-P (g/kg) 0.1 ± 0.04 3.5 ± 0.5 7.4 ± 0.9
mined by digesting the samples with conc. H2SO4 and
T-K (g/kg) 2.03 ± 0.4 1.45 ± 0.4 4.1 ± 0.9
HClO4 (9:1, v/v) by Bremner and Mulvaney (1982) pro-
T-Na (g/kg) 10.1 ± 1.7 6.9 ± 0.8 6.5 ± 0.9
cedure. Total phosphate was analyzed by using the spec-
T-Ca (g/kg) 15.0 ± 2.4 34.5 ± 3.6 17.8 ± 2.1
trophotometric method with molybdenum in sulfuric acid.
Total potassium (TK) and total sodium (TNa) were deter- T-Mg (g/kg) 3.2 ± 0.7 3.5 ± 0.8 3.1 ± 0.6
mined by flame photometer (Elico, CL 22 D, Hydrabad, Fe (mg/kg) 3,890 ± 124 17,130 ± 288 26,497 ± 316
India) after digesting the samples in diacid mixture (conc. Mn (mg/kg) 70 ± 14 1,134 ± 96 1,931 ± 103
HNO3; conc. HClO4, 4:1,v/v), (Kaushik and Garg 2004). Zn (mg/kg) 83 ± 19 978 ± 84 1,367 ± 97
Total calcium (TCa) and magnesium (Mg) were deter- Cu (mg/kg) 18 ± 03 140 ± 36 455 ± 49
mined by Cheng and Bray method (1951). Available sulfur SO42- (mg/kg) 10.5 ± 1.6 10.2 ± 1.1 10.6 ± 1.3
(as SO42-) was determined by Chesnin and Yien method C:N ratio 19.0 ± 4.0 20.3 ± 2.4 17.4 ± 2.7
(1950). Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were deter- EC electrical conductivity, OM organic matter, TOC total organic
mined by hot extraction method (Mckinney 1941). Total carbon, TKN total Kjeldahl nitrogen
micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu) were determined by
atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) [AAS 414,
Electronic Corporation of India, BDL 0.001 ppm] after conductivity (EC) of CD vermicompost was higher in
digesting the samples with conc. HNO3 and conc. HClO4 comparison with other growing media, which may be
(4:1, v/v) (Sangwan et al. 2008a). attributed to the presence of more salts in the feed of cattle.
t-test (test of significance) was applied to analyze the It was 3.6% in soil (control), 52.7% in CD vermicompost
significant differences among different treatments for and 58.9% in FC vermicompost, respectively. Wong et al.
studied parameters. All the data were subjected to mean (1999) reported that TOC improved the physical properties
averages and standard deviation. The probability levels of soil by reducing the bulk density and increasing porosity
used for statistical significance were p \ 0.05 for the tests. and hydraulic conductivity. The FC vermicompost was
The values shown in the figures are the mean values of richer in organic matter content. The total potassium and
three replicates with Standard deviation. total phosphate content were more in FC vermicompost
than those in soil and CD vermicompost.
The micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu) content was
3 Results and discussion higher in FC vermicomposts (Table 1) and was in the range
of European and American limits of micronutrients in the
3.1 Initial characteristics of different growth media compost (Brinton 2000). Sulfur occurs in various forms in
soil; however, the most accessible form is sulfate (SO42-).
The initial nutrient status of growing media (soil and ver- Plants take up sulfate and assimilate it as organic sulfur.
micomposts) used in the experiments is given in Table 1. The sulphate content was 10.5 mg/kg in soil, 10.2 mg/kg in
The nutrient content of different manures varied due to CD vermicompost and 10.6 mg/kg in FC vermicompost,
difference in the raw materials used in their preparation. respectively. The soils having less than 10 mg/kg of sulfate
The NPK content was higher in FC vermicompost than that are considered as sulfate deficient (Antil et al. 2002). The
in CD vermicomposts and soil. It may be due to the fact C: N ratios of the soil, CD vermicompost and FC vermi-
that filter cake is a rich source of nutrients and vermi- compost were 19.0, 20.3 and 17.4, respectively. It was
composting further resulted in its value addition (Sangwan almost in range of an ideal manure for all the types of
et al. 2008a, b). The quality of municipal organic waste growing media (it is considered as less than 20 for an ideal
compost can be upgraded by vermicomposting (Tognetti manure) (Table 1). It is reported that plants cannot
et al. 2007). The sandy-loam soil used in study was assimilate mineral nitrogen unless this ratio is in the order
deficit in nitrogen and phosphorus (Table 1). Electrical of 20: 1 or less (Edwards and Bohlen, 1996). So C: N ratio

123
126
may also be one of the factors, which could affect the
growth and flowering of marigolds in different growing
media.
3.2 Effect on marigold plants
The effect of vermicompost on marigold plants was
dependent on its physico-chemical characteristics and
doses. The plant heights at different time intervals are
given in Fig 1. The minimum plant height was recorded
in control (soil) and maximum was observed in treatment
no. 3 (20% CD vermicompost). It was 2.5 times greater
than soil and 1.1 times greater than the maximum plant
height in FC vermicompost. Consistent increase in plant
height was observed as vermicompost dose was increased
from 10 to 20%. Further increase in doses of CD ver-
micompost (30–40%) resulted in decrease in plant height.
Similar trend was observed for FC vermicompost-amen-
ded treatments. The maximum plant height was observed
in 20% FC vermicompost-amended treatments and further
addition of vermicompost (30–40%) resulted in a slight
decrease in plant height (Fig. 1). The increase in plant
height with increased doses of vermicomposts might be
due to enhanced amount of growth promoting substances
at higher doses. Similar results have been reported by
Atiyeh et al. (2000) with pig manure vermicompost
applied to tomato plants. The lower growth rates at higher
doses of vermicompost could be attributed to the higher
salt content (i.e. electrical conductivity) or excessive
nutrient levels in the more concentrated mixtures (Aran-
con et al. 2008). Different doses of vermicomposts
showed different response on growth of petunia plants
(Arancon et al. 2008). The growth of marigold plants was
better in vermicompost-amended treatments than that in
control, and there was no significant differences in two
types of vermicompost-amended treatments (Fig. 1). It
30
25
Height (Cm)
20
15
10
5
40 days 101 days 130 days
0 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Treatment No.
Fig. 1 Height of marigold plants grown in different treatments
123
Environmentalist (2010) 30:123–130
may be attributed to better nutrient availability of plant
growth enhancers in both types of vermicomposts-amen-
ded treatments due to increased activity of microbes in
vermicompost. It is well established that some microbes
like bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, algae, etc. are capable
of producing plant growth substances like auxins, gib-
berellins, etc. in appreciable quantity during vermicom-
posting (Arancon et al. 2004) which might have
influenced the plants growth positively.
The production of buds with time in different treatments
is given in Fig. 2. The type of the growth media has
influenced the time taken to bud formation and flowering.
In the control, the bud formation started after 70 days and
in all other treatments it started in first 40 days. Initially,
the rate of bud formation was more in CD vermicompost-
amended treatments in comparison with FC vermicompost
but later trend reversed and after 130 days, maximum
number of buds was recorded in treatment no. 9 (40% FC
vermicompost) (Fig. 2). It was 24 times greater than con-
trol and 2.1 times greater than maximum buds in CD
vermicompost. In both types of vermicomposts, maximum
number of buds was produced at 40% doses of
vermicomposts.
The type of growth media has also influenced the time
taken to flowering. The time taken by bud opening into
flowers was lesser in FC vermicomposts than that in soil
and CD vermicomposts. It took only 40 days in FC ver-
micompost-amended treatments, 70 days in CD vermi-
compost-amended treatments and 130 days in the soil
(without any manure) (Fig. 3). In both types of vermi-
composts, maximum number of flowers was produced at
30% vermicompost amendments. The total number of
flowers produced in pots treated with CD vermicompost
was more than that in FC vermicompost-treated pots and
soil after 130 days. Tognetti et al. (2005) observed that
vermicompost had higher nutrient content and, when mixed
30
40 days
70 days
25
Total number of buds
101 days
130 days
20
15
10
5
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9 Treatments No.
Fig. 2 Production of flower buds in marigold plants grown in
different treatments
Environmentalist (2010) 30:123–130 127

18 observed in soil and maximum diameter in CD vermi-

40 days
16 compost, respectively (Fig. 4). The results are in confor-
70 days
14 101 days mity with the observations made by Atiyeh et al. (2000,
Number of flowers

12 130 days
10
8
6
4
2
0
1 2 3 4
Treatments No.
Fig. 3 Total number of flowers grown in different treatments
with the soil, induced higher microbial population and
activity than traditional compost.
Initial rate of flower formation was higher in FC ver-
micompost but later it shifted to treatments amended with
CD vermicompost. It may be due to more readily available
nutrients in FC vermicomposts (Fig. 3). As the dose of
vermicompost was increased from 10 to 30% it reduced the
time taken to transform a bud into flower (Fig. 3). This
may be due to more growth-regulating substances and high
microbial activity but at higher dose (40%) flowering was
delayed. It may be due to higher salt content and excessive
nutrition at higher doses. Arancon et al. (2008) have
observed similar results with petunia plants. They observed
maximum number of flowers at doses of 30–40% vermi-
composts of cattle manure, food waste and paper waste and
at higher doses they observed a decrease in flower
2001). They have reported the effects of pig manure ver-
micompost on the growth and productivity of greenhouse
tomatoes and marigolds. According to them, the total
number and diameter of the flowers decreased when the
manure concentration was increased more than 40% in the
potting media. Shiralipour et al. (1992) have also reported a
decrease in plant growth and productivity after adding
more than 60% pig manure vermicompost to potting media.
5 6 7 8 9
Amendments of different types of vermicomposts and
composts affected the growth and productivity of marigold
plants. Atiyeh et al. (2000) reported that upon amendments
of 10–20% vermicompost into a metro mix 360 medium,
the weights of the tomato seedlings and the tomato fruit
yields increased significantly over those of tomato plants
grown in metro mix 360 controls. The decline in growth
and productivity after incorporation of large concentration
of vermicomposts may be due to reduced aeration and
porosity in the medium, increased salt concentrations,
induced toxicity due to heavy metal concentrations and
phytotoxic substances (Atiyeh et al. 2000).
Figure 5 shows the fresh shoot weight and fresh root
weight. The fresh shoot weight was maximum in treatment
no. 9 and minimum in control. It was 18 times greater than
that in control (Fig. 5a). The shoot biomass was almost
same in treatment no. 7 and 8. Similar trend was observed
for the root weight (Fig. 5b). Atiyeh et al. (1999) have also
40
Fresh shoot weight (g)

(a)
production. 35
The diameter of the biggest flower in different treat- 30
25
ments is given in Fig. 4. The largest flower diameter was
20
recorded in treatment no. 9 (40% FC vermicompost), and 15
the smallest flower diameter was recorded in soil. Largest 10
flowers were produced in 40% treatments amended with 5
both types of vermicomposts. The diameter of the flowers 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
in treatment no. 9 was 4.5 and 1.1 times greater than that
Treatment No.
16
(b)
Diameter of biggest flower

12
Fresh root weight (g)

14
10 12

8 10
(cm)

8
6
6
4 4
2
2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Treatment No.
Treatments No.
Fig. 5 a Fresh shoot weight of marigolds plants in different
Fig. 4 Diameter of biggest flower of marigolds grown in different treatments. b Fresh root weight of marigolds plants in different
treatments treatments

123
128 Environmentalist (2010) 30:123–130

SO42- (mg/kg)
Total (a+b)Chlorophyll 3

5.6 ± 0.7*
5.7 ± 0.8*
5.5 ± 0.6*
16.0 ± 1.7*
1.9 ± 0.3*
8.5 ± 1.1
8.0 ± 1.4
9.8 ± 1.7
9.4 ± 1.9
content (mg/g)
2.5
2

1.5

TMg (g/kg)

6.0 ± 0.9*
4.0 ± 0.6*
4.5 ± 0.8*

1.5 ± 0.4*
1.0 ± 0.2*
1.0 ± 0.3*
2.5 ± 0.2
2.0 ± 0.3

2.5 ± 0.3
0.5

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Treatment No.

24.5 ± 3.1*
27.0 ± 1.9*
23.0 ± 1.8*
TCa (g/kg)

11.5 ± 1.4
12.5 ± 1.8
13.5 ± 1.6
12.0 ± 1.7
14.0 ± 1.9
17.5 ± 2.6
Fig. 6 Chlorophyll content of marigold plants in different treatments
after 101 days

reported similar observations with shoot weight and root

TNa (g/kg)

8.3 ± 0.7
6.4 ± 1.8
7.6 ± 1.3
11.5 ± 1.5
10.2 ± 1.7
8.4 ± 1.8
8.7 ± 1.9
7.0 ± 0.7
9.5 ± 1.4
weight in tomato plants. Maximum root shoot ratio was
observed in treatment no. 2. It was same in treatment no. 4
and 5 and almost same in treatment no. 6, 7 and 8.
Total chlorophyll (a ? b) content were studied as

TK (g/kg)

2.1 ± 0.5
1.5 ± 0.4
1.4 ± 0.3
2.1 ± 0.5
2.0 ± 0.3
1.6 ± 0.4
1.4 ± 0.2
1.7 ± 0.3
1.3 ± 0.2
photosynthetic pigments. Figure 6 shows the amount of
chlorophyll in different treatments. The plants grown in
CD vermicompost had higher chlorophyll content than
FC vermicompost and soil. Maximum chlorophyll con-

0.10 ± 0.04
0.19 ± 0.05
0.30 ± 0.07
0.41 ± 0.08
0.44 ± 0.06
0.32 ± 0.06

0.70 ± 0.2
0.61 ± 0.1
TP (g/kg)

0.35 ± 0.
tent was observed in treatment no. 2 (10% CD vermi-
compost), and it was almost same with treatment no. 3
and 4. TKN (g/kg)

1.7 ± 0.3*
2.5 ± 0.7*
3.4 ± 0.6*
2.8 ± 0.5*
2.0 ± 0.3*
2.8 ± 0.6*
2.5 ± 0.4*
3.3 Effects of vermicomposts on soils
0.9 ± 0.2
1.4 ± 0.5

The postharvest nutrient status of soil in different treat-

Mean values followed by * are statistically significant with control (t-test, p \ 0.05)
ments is given in Table 2. A large proportion of mineral
0.8 ± 0.1*
13.6 ± 1.5*
33.1 ± 3.6*
17.6 ± 1.9*

21.4 ± 2.9*
14.4 ± 1.7*
TOC (g/kg)

elements in all the treatments had been lost either through

5.8 ± 0.7

4.3 ± 0.6

16.4 ± 1.5
leaching or being taken up by the marigold plants. The EC
was decreased as a large quantity of soluble salts, such as
Ca, Mg, K, Na, etc. leached out. After 130 days of the
Table 2 Postharvest status of soil parameters in different treatments

experiment, the nutrient content was lesser in the soil than

0.13 ± 0.05

5.7 ± 0.9*
3.0 ± 0.7*
0.7 ± 0.1*
3.7 ± 0.8*
2.4 ± 0.3*
2.8 ± 0.1*
0.99 ± 0.1

2.4 ± 0.7

initial concentrations. All the values presented by (*) in

OM (%)

Table 2 shows the significant differences of that treatment

with respect to soil. The nitrogen content was reduced by
55% in soil, 7.3% in CD vermicompost and 7.2% in FC
EC (lS/cm)

110 ± 18*
60 ± 13
70 ± 12
70 ± 15
80 ± 14

70 ± 11
90 ± 17
100 ± 14
80 ± 16

vermicompost. The TKN in all treatments except no. 2

showed significant differences over the control (Table 2).
Atiyeh et al. (2001) reported similar results in pig manure
amended with metro mix 360 mixtures. They observed
8.9 ± 0.5
9.2 ± 0.7
8.5 ± 0.6
8.4 ± 0.3
8.2 ± 0.4
8.6 ± 0.3
8.6 ± 0.5
8.5 ± 0.2
8.5 ± 0.5

decreased concentration of nitrate-nitrogen after 121 days

of application of vermicompost in marigold plants. There
pH

was a great loss in TOC after the harvesting of plants in all

the treatments. The loss of TOC content was more in soil
Soil (control)
Treatments

than that in vermicompost-amended treatments. Similar

T1 FHDV
T2 FHDV
T3 FHDV
T4 FHDV
T1CDV
T2CDV
T3CDV
T4CDV

trends were observed with TCa, Mg and SO42- (Table 2).

The reduction was insignificant with TP, TK and TNa in all
the treatments over control. Similar results have been
S. No.

reported by Arancon et al. (2005) in different kind of

vermicomposts while growing peppers. Atiyeh et al.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

123
Environmentalist (2010) 30:123–130
(2001) have reported an increase in microbial biomass in
soilless culture media after amendments with vermicom-
posts. Moreover, increases in microbial biomass can
accelerate microbial competition, which may suppress
plant parasitic nematodes (Arancon et al. 2002). Jeybal and
Kuppuswamy (2001) observed that regardless of the dif-
ferent organic manures, integrated with chemical fertilizer
(urea) and biofertilizers, the available K in postharvest soil
of rice––legume sequence was depleted over the initial
concentration.
4 Conclusions
It is evident from the results that FC vermicompost has
higher nutritional value and synergistic effects on the
growth and productivity of marigold plants. It has no
phytotoxic effects on growth and productivity of plants
rather it has improved growth and flowering of plants
including increase in bud formation, number of flowers,
plant shoot biomass, root biomass, plant height and
increase in diameter of flower when applied in appropriate
quantities. The results also revealed that FC vermicomposts
are comparable and almost equally effective to CD ver-
micomposts. If the use of such type of vermicompost at
appropriate dose is adopted, the faster growth and flower-
ing of marigold plants can be achieved as it is an important
ornamental plant in India. It can also improve the pro-
spectus of other ornamental plants in potting media. It
would be economically attractive for commercial growers
also since faster growth and increased flowering would
minimize the maintenance costs.
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