MSc

ABSTRACT
The investigation entitled “standardization of alternate media for potted ornamental foliage plants for export purpose” was carried out in Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara from June, 2019 to June, 2020. The objectives of the study were to standardize alternate media for potted ornamental foliage plants for export purpose and to work out the economics. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized block design with ten treatments and four replications. Treatments included ten different growing media containing soil, sand, FYM, cocopeat, vermicompost, rice husk, biochar, perlite and vermiculite in various proportions viz., T1 : soil, vermicompost and sand in 3:2:1, T2 : soil (75%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T3: soil (50%) + cocopeat (25%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T4 : soil (25%) + cocopeat (50%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T5 : cocopeat (70%) + rice husk (10%) + vermicompost (10%) + sand (10% ), T6 : cocopeat (50%) + rice husk (25%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T7 : cocopeat (50%) + biochar (25%) + vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%), T8 : cocopeat (25%) + biochar (25%) + vermicompost (25%) + sand (15%) + perlite (10%), T9 : soil: FYM : sand (1:1:1) (Control) and T10 : cocopeat (50%) + vermicompost (20%) + perlite (15%) + vermiculite (15%). Popular herbaceous foliage plant Aglaonema commutatum var. ‘silver frost’ was used for the study.
Significant improvement in growth parameters viz., plant height and plant spread was observed in all soil based media (T1, T2, T3 and T9) as well as in two cocopeat based media (T4 and T5) during the study period. However, the treatment T10 [cocopeat (50%) + vermicompost (20%) + perlite (15%) + vermiculite (15%)] was found to satisfy the height (48.89 cm) and plant spread (50.78cm) as per the recommended grades and standards for potted aglaonema (FMA and FNGA, 1994). Even though significant improvement with respect to number of leaves was observed in various treatments during the period of experiment, T10 was found to have consistent performance confirming to the standards of
potted plants. The treatments T4, T5 and T6 which were cocopeat based treatments showed more leaf width throughout the period of observation (7.89-7.29 cm). Composition of growing media significantly influenced the leaf area. T1, T7, T10 and T4 were found to have maximum leaf area (8091.26 - 8982.67 cm2) at the end of experiment. As the foliage enhances the beauty of potted plants, production of leaves at frequent intervals is a desirable character. In the present study, minimum interval for the production of successive leaves was observed in treatments T4, T10, T9, T5 and T3, whereas T8 was found to have more time interval between the production of leaves. Early emergence of first sucker (94.79 days) was observed in T8 [cocopeat (25%) + biochar (25%)+ vermicompost (25%)+ sand (15%) + perlite (10%)], whereas T2 [soil (75%)+ vermicompost (15%) + sand (10%)] took more time for emergence of first sucker (155.33 days). Number of suckers decides the fullness of the pot at the base and the medium composed of cocopeat (50%), vermicompost (20%), perlite (15%) and vermiculite (15%) (T10) was superior with regard to this parameter (6.10).
The lowest shoot length will provide a compact appearance to the potted plants. The treatments T8 [cocopeat (25%), biochar (25%), vermicompost (25%), sand (15%) and perlite (10%)], T10 [cocopeat (50%)+ vermicompost (20%)+ perlite (15%)+ vermiculite (15%)], T7 [cocopeat (50%)+ biochar (25%)+ vermicompost (15%)+ sand (10%)] and T6 [cocopeat (50%)+ rice husk (25%)+ vermicompost (15%)+ sand (10%)] showed lowest shoot length. Fresh weight of leaves is an indication of quality of foliage and this parameter was found to be highest in media T1, T9, T4, T8 and T10. T5 was superior with regard to dry weight of leaves. With regard to root parameters, T4 and T5 were superior in terms of fresh weight of roots. Number of lateral roots was observed to be highest in T9, T1, T5, T4 and T2.
Even though improvement in growth characters and root parameters was observed due to various treatments, potted ornamental foliage plants should satisfy certain quality criteria for export purpose.
As per the recommended grades and standards for potted aglaonema for export, it should possess height and spread within the range of 40.64 cm to 50.80 cm and there should be 6-12 suckers per pot. The medium should be light in weight and it should have more
water holding capacity so as to avoid irrigation at frequent intervals. In the present study, the medium composed of cocopeat (50%), vermicompost (20%), 6perlite (15%), vermiculite (15%) (T10) was found to possess all these characteristics and also it was superior with respect to number of leaves as well as number of suckers, which are the desirable characters for potted foliage plants for interiorscaping. In addition to this, the medium was found to have high porosity, low bulk density and high water holding capacity which helps to reduce irrigation requirement of potted plants. Hence this medium can be recommended as a medium for export purpose of potted ornamental foliage plants.