DEPENDENCE OF FIELD SIMILARITY AND SURVIVAL OF CALENDULA OFFICINALIS L. PLANTS ON VEGETATION FACTORS AND AGROTECHNICAL PRACTICES IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE RIGHT BANK FOREST STEPPE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

Calendula (Calendula officinalis L.) is a plant that grows in the Mediterranean region and has been cultivated as a medicinal and decorative plant for centuries. The research was conducted using the registered varieties Sunny beauty and Radio in the conditions of the Right Bank Forest Steppe of Ukraine. During the years of experimental research (2018–2023), varietal ecological stability was studied, ensuring high seed germination and plant survival of medicinal plants was worked out, medicinal raw сalendula were evaluated and prospects for use were outlined depending on the outlined technological methods. It was established that C. officinalis plants react significantly to the soil and climatic conditions of the region, which causes the unevenness of seedlings, therefore, the issue of the conducted research aimed at increasing the energy of seed germination and friendship of seedlings became a necessary condition. The agrobiological features of the cultivation of medicinal plants, which are most widely used in official and folk medicine, due to the presence of various biologically active substances in their composition, are substantiated. The following data were obtained: the vegetation period of C. officinalis mainly depended on the sowing time, the duration varied between 80 and 107 days; the field similarity of plants for 2018–2023 was in the range of 86.94–70.50%; the maximum rate of plant survival at the end of the growing season was 94%, which was obtained on the option of the early spring sowing period (April 15–18) of the Sunny Beauty variety, the minimum rate – 81.54% – for the early spring sowing period (1–4.05) of the Radio variety; the rate of similarity and survival on average over the years of research exceeded the control by 3%. Today, this culture is widespread and is cultivated independently of the first established areas of cultivation and existing research stations of medicinal plants, as a culture of a wide range of use of the raw material base in Ukraine and abroad.