Standardization of growing media for dendrobiums (Dendrobium spp.)

Abstract

The study was conducted at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, during 1988-89. The object of the study was to examine the effect of different growing media on the vegetative parameters of epiphytic orchids. Four species of Dendrobium, viz., D. farmeri, D. fimbriatum D. moschatum and D. mobile, selected based on their general performance at Vellanikkara conditions , were utilized for conducting the study. As the components of the media, five materials, viz., charcoal, brick, gravel, coconut fibre and husk, which were available locally, cheap and satisfying the growth requirements of epiphytic orchids were selected. All the possible combinations of these media, excluding their straight use , as well as the combination of all the five , were tried, thus consulting 25 treatments . The plant growth was observed based on five salient parameters recorded at monthly intervals, for seven months. There were ten plants in each treatment, from which five plants were randomly selected for taking the observations. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomised design. The result revealed that the media could significantly influence all the five vegetative characters, viz., number of new shoots, height, leaves, leaf area and number of pseudobulbs of the new shoots. In one species or other.