Plant characteristics, growth and leaf yield of Aloe vera as affected by organic manure in pot culture

A pot experiment was conducted at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh to evaluate the effect of different amount of manures on the leaf and plant characteristics as well as yield of Aloe vera. There were 8 different treatments viz., T1 = 100% soil (control), T2= 50% cowdung + 50% soil, T3= 25% cowdung + 75% soil, T4= 10% cowdung + 90% soil + urea, T5= 10% cowdung + 90% soil, T6=5% cowdung + 95% soil + urea, T7= 5% cowdung + 95% soil, T8=soil + urea. It was observed that the plant produced highest number of leaves and maximum leaf weight, maximum leaf breadth, total leaf area as well as length and breadth of largest leaves with application of 50% cowdung + 50% soil (T2). Different plant characters such as weight of tiller, stem and root as well as root length was also found to be highest with T2 treatment over control (100% soil). The growth rate of leaves also significantly affected by different manure treatments where maximum effect was noticed at early stages with all the treatment. It was revealed that urea had a little effect on plant character of Aloe vera over organic manure (cowdung).