China Aster
Botanical Name – Callistephus chinensis
Family – Asteraceae
Varieties
Kamini, Poornima, Shashank, Violet Cushion, Phule Ganesh White, Phule Ganesh
Pink, Phule Ganesh Violet, Phule Ganesh Purple.
Soil and Climate
Soil –
Plant china aster in garden beds, cutting gardens, or containers. It grows best in moist, loamy, well-draining soil but tolerates other soil conditions.
Open sunny locations with well drained red loamy soils with pH of 6.0 to 7.0.
Climate-
A cool-season grower, China aster will not be happy in warm Southern climates during the summer. If it gets too hot, the plant will likely stop blooming, but it comes back in fall with another cool-season show
Planting Season
Throughout the year under mild climatic conditions (like Bengalure)
Propagation and planting
Propagated through seeds .
seed rate is 2.5 – 3.0 kg/ha.
30-45 day old seedlings are transplanted in raised beds of 120 x 60 x 10 cm size.
FYM @ 10-15 t/ha is applied during field preparation.
NPK recommendation is 180:60:60 kg/ha of which 90:60:60 kg/ha is applied as basal and 90 kg/ha of N is applied as top dressing 40 days after transplanting.
Irrigate once in 7 – 10 days depending upon the weather conditions
Pinching of growing tips is done 30 days after transplanting to induce lateral shoots
Pests
Semilooper
Spray Quinalphos 25EC @ 1.0 ml/lit.
Leaf miner
Spray any one of the following:
Monocrotophos 36SL @ 0.5 ml/lit.
Imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 0.5 ml/lit.
Collar and root rot: Soil drenching with copper oxychloride @ 2.5 g/l
Wilt (Fusarium sp.): Soil drenching with carbendazim @ 1g/l
For cut flower : Flowers along with stalks or whole plants are harvested
For loose flower: Individual flowers are harvested with short stems attached
18 – 20 t/ha
