2024, Vol. 9, Special Issue 2

The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with two replications. Each plot contains six plants spaced at 1.8 X 1.0 m at Modibaug, Horticulture section, College of Agriculture, Shivaji nagar, Pune -5 (M.S) during year 2015-2017. The experimental material consisted of 20 genetically diverse genotypes of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. obtained from different sources.

Among the 17 characters studied, number of secondary branches recorded highest positive direct effect on number of flowers per plant followed by number of node at which first flower appeared, style length, East-West plant spread and number of petals per flower. Whereas the characters like length of flower bud, plant height, number of primary branches were recorded relatively low and positive direct effect on number of flowers per plant. It can be concluded that the selection for number of primary branches, East-West plant spread number of node at which first flower appeared and longevity of flower would be helpful and effective in improvement of number of flowers per plant in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.