STUDIES ON NURSERY MANAGEMENT IN PAPAYA (CARICA PAPAYA L.) VAR. CO2

Considering the need for optimizing the number of seedling per bag, an attempt was made with different organic potting mixtures and number of seedlings per polythene bag on growth and development of papaya var. CO2 in the nursery and their effect on first flowering height and first bearing height in the main field. The study revealed the superiority of single seedling grown with potting mixture treated with vermicompost by registering higher seedling height (28.50 cm), seedling diameter (0.639 cm), petiole length (6.410 cm), petiole diameter (0.186 cm), number of leaves (11.65), short dry weight (1.254 g), root length (29.715 cm) root dry weight (0.392 g) and root shoot ratio (0.340). In main field condition, three seedlings per polybag grown with potting mixture and vermicompost was found to have early flowering development (86.69 days) and first bearing height (96.695 cm) with minimum plant height (90.930 cm).