author(s)
Narendra Gurjar, Kamal Kishor Nagar, Aishwarya Sharma, Deepika Sharma, RK Bansal, Vinod Kumar, AK Singh and EVD Sastry

abstract
A field experiment was carried out at the Crop Research Farm, School of Agricultural Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, during summer season 2024-25, employing a Factorial Randomized Block Design with twenty-one treatments and three replications. The experiment included different mulching materials paddy straw, black polythene, and control as well as bio-regulators at varying concentrations of GA₃ and NAA (Control, 100, 150, 200 ppm). The findings demonstrated that the highest growth and yield parameters were consistently observed under paddy straw mulch and GA₃@200ppm treatments, which produced the tallest plants (79.33 cm), greatest plant spread (61.42 cm), most branches (25.89), and earliest flowering (56.55) were also recorded in these treatments. These results suggest that paddy straw mulch and GA₃ at 200 ppm are highly effective for enhancing growth, flowering, yield, and quality attributes of gaillardia under sandy loamy soil conditions in Rajasthan, making them recommended practices for maximizing ornamental floriculture production in the region.