Influence of Biostimulants on Important Traits of Zinnia elegans Jacq. under Open Field Conditions

Table 2

Effect of bioinoculants on morphological and floral parameters of Zinnia elegans.

Parameters	Treatment 0	Treatment 1	Treatment 2	Treatment 3	Treatment 4	Treatment 5	F ratio	Probability
Shoot length (cm)	30 ± 3.5^e	40 ± 4.2^c	35 ± 2.1^d	41 ± 3.6^c	50 ± 3.4^b	56 ± 5.8^a	4.214	<0.001
Root length (cm)	4.64 ± 0.94^e	9.09 ± 1.24^d	14 ± 1.3^b	11.08 ± 1.15^c	16 ± 1.3^a	17.09 ± 1.35^a	1.332	<0.001
Fresh shoot weight (g)	9.3 ± 1.302^c	14.74 ± 1.178^b	13.81±1^b	16.57 ± 1.616^a	16.93 ± 1.592^a	17.25 ± 1.358^a	1.473	<0.001
Dry shoot weight (g)	4.844 ± 0.933^c	9.655 ± 1.55^b	8.297 ± 0.996^b	11.558 ± 1.372^a	11.675 ± 1.741^a	11.757 ± 1.082^a	1.424	<0.001
Fresh root weight (g)	0.745 ± 0.054^c	2.05 ± 0.096^a	0.979 ± 0.104^b	2.109 ± 0.525^a	2.187 ± 0.53^a	2.294 ± 0.489^a	0.4	<0.001
Dry root weight (g)	0.207 ± 0.058^c	0.557 ± 0.037^b	0.452 ± 0.076^b	0.811 ± 0.107^a	0.985 ± 0.38^a	1.044 ± 0.345^a	0.236	<0.001
Leaf area (cm^2)	6.724 ± 0.224^f	23.38 ± 0.284^d	15.61 ± 0.22^e	27.72 ± 0.139^c	35.33 ± 0.054^a	32.312 ± 0.03^b	0.199	<0.001
Fresh leaf weight (g)	0.25 ± 0.047^f	0.535 ± 0.066^d	0.41 ± 0.04^e	0.634 ± 0.069^c	0.803 ± 0.092^a	0.727 ± 0.07^b	0.072	<0.001
Dry leaf weight (g)	0.05 ± 0.011^d	0.09 ± 0.005^bc	0.07 ± 0.006^c	0.097 ± 0.08^b	0.121 ± 0.025^a	0.108 ± 0.028^ab	0.018	<0.001
Root colonization (%)	22 ± 2.64^f	50 ± 3.91^d	35 ± 2.16^e	42 ± 4.54^c	63 ± 3.87^a	58 ± 6.68^b	4.585	<0.001
Spore number (per 10 g soil)	30 ± 5.8^f	100 ± 8.2^d	63 ± 6.1^e	81 ± 10.5^c	153 ± 13.4^a	140 ± 10.3^b	10.258	<0.001
Number of floral heads	2 ± 0.57^d	4 ± 1^c	4 ± 0.816^c	7 ± 1.29^b	10 ± 1.15^a	9 ± 1.63^a	1.225	<0.001
Floral head diameter (cm)	2.74 ± 0.639^e	7.61 ± 0.481^c	4.82 ± 0.495^d	9.62 ± 0.345^b	9.8 ± 0.421^ab	10.24 ± 0.665^a	0.564	<0.001
Floral head fresh weight	1.63 ± 0.253^d	4.53 ± 0.629^b	3.18 ± 0.404^c	4.06 ± 0.274^b	5.4 ± 0.469^a	5.02 ± 0.312^a	0.446	<0.001
Floral head dry weight (g)	0.33 ± 0.13^e	1.04 ± 0.197^c	0.7 ± 0.166^d	0.98 ± 0.608^c	1.66 ± 0.315^a	1.17 ± 0.176^b	0.338	<0.001
Number of floret layers	1 ± 0^e	5 ± 1.15^c	3 ± 1.29^d	5 ± 0.816^b	7 ± 0.816^a	2 ± 0.577^d	0.956	<0.001

Means within rows separated by different letters are significantly different based on the least significant difference test (LSD).