Response of Zinnia (Zinnia elegans L.) to Different Fertilizers

A pot  experiment was conducted to study the response of Zinnia (Zinnia elegans L.) to different fertilizers. Fertilizer treatments were: chicken manure at the rate 10 g/pot, Agrofeed (19 : 19 : 19  + TE) at the rate of 2 g/pot, Foliar Broxal (11 : 8 : 6) at the rate of 3 ml/ litre of water  and the control. Chicken manure resulted in the highest plant height, number of branches/plant, plant fresh and dry weights number of leaves/plant. Agrofeed resulted in the highest value of stem diameter. Zinnia plants supplied with Agrofeed showed the earliest flowering . The Latest flowering was shown by Foliar  Broxal and chicken manure. Chicken manure resulted in the highest number of inflorescences/plant and inflorescence diameter. There was no significant difference in inflorescence weight among treatments. Since inorganic fertilizers are sometimes not available and are always rather expensive for the low-income, small-scale producers, this study recommends the use of chicken manure for zinnia  as an alternative for the inorganic fertilizers. Further studies on complementary use of organic and mineral fertilizers are needed so as to determine the optimal rate of combining the organic and the inorganic fertilizers as well as the optimal rate of application in zinnia and other flowering plants as an integrated nutrient management system.