Study on the effect of organ.ic inputs on growth, yield andqualitycharacteristics of pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L.)

Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) belongs to Asteraceae family is a medicinal herb which its flowershavediverse pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutritional uses. In order to study the effect of organic fertilizers onagronomic performance, yield and quality characteristics of pot marigold, a field experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Research Station ofFaculty ofAgriculture,Collegeof Agriculture andNatural Resources, University ofTehran,Karaj,in2010.Treatments werevermicompost (15tha-1), municipal waste compost (20t ha-1), cattle manure (25t ha-1), mushroom compost (15t ha-1) and control (without fertilizer). Quantitative and qual itative criteria such as plant height, number of branch per plant, number of flower per unit area, flower diameter, herbal fresh and dry weight, 1000 seed weight,flower and seed yield and content of essential oil and exh·act were measured. Results revealed that among different organ ic inputs, vermicompost performed better and sign ificantly increased plant height, number of branch per plant, num ber of flower perunitarea,1000seed weight, herbal fresh and dry weightand flower and seed yield. Whereas there were no significant difference between cattle manure and m unicipal waste compost in plant height and also. with vermicompost in 1000seed weight. Application of cattle manure resulted in highest flower diameter and extract content.Although,there were no significant d ifference between cattle manure and vermicompost in flower d iameter and extractcontent improvement. Yield and all plant criteria were decreased with m ushroom compost application. In general, thisstudy indicated that verm icompost cou ld be an alternati ve organic input instead of chem ical fertil izers in sustainableproduction system of C.officinalis.