Effect of different potting media combinations on growth and vase life of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa Linn.) Pakistan

Abstract

The present study was carried out in the agro-metrological conditions of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Different potting media were used in different combinations to check their effect on the morphological parameters as well as on the vase life of the tuberose. The different treatments included the combinations of FYM, poultry manure, sand, leaf compost and coconut coir in equivalent ratio. The data was analyzed statistically which showed significant effect of media combinations over control values. Maximum plant spread, number of leaves and vase life was recorded in sand+FYM. Coconut coir + FYM contributed to the maximum values of plant height, leaf area and spike length. Maximum plantlets were counted for sand+poultry manure. The highest values of floral diameter, number of flowers per spike and shelf life were observed in sand+leaf compost. These findings lead toward better quality cut flower production with maximum vase life.

Full text

Perfor. of Summer forage legumes in Pothowar
The present study was carried out in the agro-metrological conditions of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Different potting media were
used in different combinations to check their effect on the morphological parameters as well as on the vase life of the
tuberose. The different treatments included the combinations of FYM, poultry manure, sand, leaf compost and coconut coir
in equivalent ratio. The data was analyzed statistically which showed significant effect of media combinations over control
values. Maximum plant spread, number of leaves and vase life was recorded in sand+FYM. Coconut coir + FYM contributed
to the maximum values of plant height, leaf area and spike length. Maximum plantlets were counted for sand+poultry
manure. The highest values of floral diameter, number of flowers per spike and shelf life were observed in sand+leaf
compost. These findings lead toward better quality cut flower production with maximum vase life.
Keywords: Tuberose, soil less media, growth characteristics, floral characteristics, potting media
INTRODUCTION
Flowers are an integral part of human life due to their
diversity in beauty, form, texture, color and fragrance.
Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa Linn.) belongs to family
Amaryllidaceae and is a perennial flowering plant popular
worldwide as cut flower (Singh and Shanker, 2011).
Tuberose is grown for garden decoration in pots, beds,
borders for cut flower, loose flower and extraction of
essential oil. Tuberose is popular among flower loving
people because of its sweet and pleasant fragrance and also
long keeping quality. The quality of tuberose flower is
affected by various pre- and post-harvest factors such as
temperature, relative humidity, frequency of irrigation,
picking time and nutrition (Benschop, 1993).
Tuberose is cultivated in most of the tropical and subtropical
countries of the world (Asif et al., 2001). In plains of
Pakistan, it blooms profusely during the summer and flaunts
its fragrance indoor and outdoor. Loamy and sandy loam
soils with pH range of 6.5-7.5 are the best for its growth
(Sharga and Sharma, 1994). It is also very sensitive to
change in the temperature. Mostly tuberose is propagated
through corms. The best suitable diameter of corm and
planting depth for cut flower production ranges 2.5-3.5 cm
and 6.0 cm, respectively (Hussain, 1999).
Growth medium is known to have effect on value of potted
ornamental plants (Vendrame et al., 2005) and plays an
important role in germination rate, and many other
physiological parameters including plant height, number of
leaves, spike length, number of florets per spike, spike
diameter and yield etc (Vendrame et al., 2005). A best
growing media should have proper aeration, water holding
capacity and adequate nutrition supply; different manures
provide good nutrition to plants when applied in
combination with soil less substrates (Khobragade et al.,
1997). Different vegetative and reproductive growth
parameters produced best results favored by different soil
less media are observed in rose (Ahmad, 1989),
Lagerstroemia speciosa (Tahir et al., 1997), Dieffenbechia
plant (Aquila and Pasini, 1989) and tuberose (Mahrose,
1999).
In order to regulate flower supply and extension in vase life
of many kinds of flowers, the use of suitable wrapping
materials and chemical treatments before storage has been
made with varying success (Saeed et al., 1993). Vase life
was increased three times by using solution containing 200
ppm silver nitrate (AgNO3) and 4mM silver thiosulfate STS
(Bakash et al., 1999). Similarly, tuberose flower held in de-
ionized water (DIW) had a vase life of 13 days with floret
opening of 63% (Hutchinson et al., 2003). Sudagar et al.
(2010) obtained maximum vase life and flower diameter of
tuberose cultivars when immersed in a solution containing
sucrose 2% + 8 HQC (200 ppm) + AgNO3 (50 ppm).
In Pakistan a limited research work on tuberose is carried
out particularly regarding effect of different soil less growth
media for good growth, and to obtain best quality tuberose
cut flowers. Present research work was planned to
investigate the best soil less media contributing to good plant
growth, best flowering quality and maximum vase life of
tuberose under agro-ecological conditions of Rawalpindi.
Furthermore this research also emphasized upon shortening
of flowering cycle for tuberose.
Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 49(2), 121-125; 2012
ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906
http://www.pakjas.com.pk
EFFECT OF DIFFERENT POTTING MEDIA COMBINATIONS ON GROWTH
AND VASE LIFE OF TUBEROSE (POLIANTHES TUBEROSA LINN.)
Samia Ikram1, Umer Habib1 and Nauman Khalid2 ,*
1Department of Horticulture, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan;
2Department of Global Agriculture, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences,
University of Tokyo 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8257, Japan
*Corresponding author’s e.mail: nauman_khalid120@yahoo.com

Ikram, Habib & Khalid
122
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted in the agro-metrological
conditions of Rawalpindi at the fields and postharvest
laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, PMAS Arid
Agriculture University. Rawalpindi region features a humid
sub tropical climate with maximum temperature of 1260F
and minimum of 250F with annual average rainfall of 990
mm and consider good for cultivation of Polianthes
tuberosa. The corms of the single variety of tuberose was
sown in 9 inch pots by using poultry manure, leaf compost
and farm yard manure (FYM) in combination with coconut
coir and sand in 1:1 ratio. Table 1 shows the treatments used
for growth of Polianthes tuberosa.
Table 1. Treatment and composition of different media
Treatments
Composition
T1
100% Sand
T2
100% Coconut coir
T3
Sand + FYM 1:1
T4
Sand +Poultry manure 1:1
T5
Sand +Leaf compost 1:1
T6
Coconut coir + FYM 1:1
T7
Coconut coir +Poultry manure 1:1
T8
Coconut coir + Leaf compost 1:1
The treatments were replicated three times during the month
of May. The physiological parameters including plant height
(cm), number of plants, leaf area (cm2), initiation time of
spike, spike length (cm), spike weight (g), number of florets
per spike, spike diameter (cm), flower diameter (cm) and
vase life of flowers was observed in distilled water at 25°C.
Completely Randomized Design was used to evaluate the
results statistically and LSD (least significant difference) at
5% were calculated according to the method described by
Steel et al. (1997).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Growth characteristics:
Plant height (cm): It is observed from the Table 2 that the
T6 (coconut coir + FYM, 1:1) showed maximum plant height
of 41.25 cm which is followed by T5 (sand+ leaf compost,
1:1) by producing height of 38.13 cm in tuberose. The
lowest plant height of 23.88 cm was contributed by T4 (sand
+ poultry manure, 1:1). The results are in line with the work
of Ahmad et al. (2004) and Turhan et al. (2007). They found
that the best medium for the growth of saffron was mixture
containing manure with its double application, above and
below the corms. Our findings were in agreement with
Yusef (1997) who reported that application of organic
fertilizers had the best effects on growth of four annual
flowers petunia (Petunia hybrida L.), snapdragon
(Antirrhinum majus L.) and marigold (Tagetes erecta L.)
and organic fertilizer increased plant height, flower diameter
and number of flowers.
Plant spread (cm): It can be seen from the Table 2 that T3
(sand + FYM, 1:1) produced maximum spread of 10.25 cm
while the other treatments having T4 (sand + poultry
manure, 1:1), T5 (sand +leaf manure, 1:1), T6 (coconut coir +
FYM, 1:1), T7 (coconut coir +leaf manure, 1:1), T1 100%
sand and T2 100% coconut coir produced spread of 7.25 cm,
7.5 cm, 8.28 cm, 4.63 cm, 4.75 cm, respectively, while the
lowest spread of 3.75 cm was produced by T7 (coconut coir
+ poultry manure, 1:1). The results are supported by the
previous findings of Turhan et al. (2007) and El-Naggar and
El-Nasharty (2009) who indicated that the different growing
media had significant effect on the most of the vegetative
growth characteristics, flowering parameters, bulbs
productivity and leaf chemical composition parameters of
Hippeastrum vittatum (Table 2).
Number of leaves: Table 2 showed that the maximum
number of leaves 36.09 were counted in treatment with
(sand + FYM 1:1) followed by T4 and T5 by producing 23.17
Table 2. Effect of potting media on growth characteristics of Polianthes tuberosa L.
Treatment
Plant
height (cm)
Plant
spread (cm)
Number of
leaves
Leaf Area
(cm²)
Number of
plants
Spike
Length (cm)
Spike
Weight (g)
T1
27.28 D
4.63 CD
17.28 D
8.95 E
0.50 C
0.00 C
0.00 D
T2
25.95 DE
4.75 CD
10.09 E
13.10 D
0.00 C
19.10 B
19.10 CD
T3
36.43 BC
10.25 A
36.09 A
23.93 C
0.00 C
69.20 A
34.30 BC
T4
23.88 E
7.25 B
23.17 B
22.76 C
2.75 A
12.30 BC
8.30 D
T5
38.13 B
7.50 B
24.34 B
21.55 C
0.00 C
72.40 A
50.20 B
T6
41.25 A
8.25 B
20.38 C
50.55 A
0.00 C
70.40 A
32.50 BC
T7
34.65 C
3.75 D
11.53 E
29.83 B
0.00C
71.40 A
92.50 A
T8
37.13 BC
5.13 C
16.97 D
30.20B
1.25 B
19.40 B
7.80 D
Mean values denoted by the same letters are not significantly different at p=0.05 levels

Potting media effect on growth and vase life of tuberose
123
and 24.34 and were statistically at par. Leaves for treatment
T6 (coconut coir+ FYM, 1:1), (coconut coir+ compost, 1:1),
T7 (coconut coir + poultry manure, 1:1), T1 (100% sand)
were counted as 20.38, 16.97, 17.28 and 11.53, respectively.
The least number of leaves (10.09) were produced by
treatment containing 100% coconut coir. This results were
supported by the findings of Raiz et al. (2008). They
counted maximum number of leaves in leaf compost
mixture. The possible reason was nutritional contribution of
the treatment that produced maximum number of leaves.
Leaf area (cm2): The data on the leaf area was seen in Table
1 that the growing media significantly affected the leaf area
as, T6 had produced maximum leaf area of 50.55 cm2
followed by T7 (coconut coir + poultry manure, 1:1) and T8
(coconut coir + leaf compost, 1:1) by producing leaf area of
29.83 cm2 and 16.97 cm2, respectively and was statistically at
par with each other. Treatments with sand +FYM (1:1), sand
+ poultry manure (1:1), coconut coir + poultry manure (1:1)
and coconut coir + leaf manure (1:1) produced leaf area of
23.93 cm2, 22.76 cm2, 20.38 cm2 and 30.20 cm2,
respectively, which was statistically at par while T1 and T2
produced the leaf area of 13.1 cm2 and 8.95 cm2,
respectively. The results are in agreement with those of Pal
and Biswas (2005) who revealed that NPK fertilization
significantly increased the leaf area in Polianthes tuberosa.
Number of plantlets per plant: Table 1 shows that T4 (sand
+ poultry manure, 1:1) produced maximum number of
plantlets per plant (2.75) followed by T8 (coconut coir + leaf
manure, 1:1) by producing 1.25 plantlets/plant. The other six
treatments T1, T2, T3, T5, T6, T7 with 100% sand, 100%
coconut coir, sand + FYM (1:1), and sand + leaf compost
(1:1), Coconut coir + FYM (1:1), coconut coir + poultry
manure (1:1) produced no plantlets.
Spike length (cm): It was found that maximum spike length
of 72.4 cm was obtained in T7 (coconut coir + poultry
manure, 1:1) followed by T3 (sand + FYM, 1:1), T5 (sand +
leaf compost, 1:1), T6 (coconut coir +FYM, 1:1) by
producing spike length of 69.2 cm,72 cm, 70.4 cm,
respectively and were statistically at par (Table 2). The rest
of the treatments including T8 (coconut coir + leaf compost,
1:1) T2 (100% coconut coir) and T4 (sand + poultry manure,
1:1) produced spike length of 19.40 cm, 19.1 cm and 12.3
cm, respectively while T1 (100% sand) failed to produce any
spike. These results were confirmed by the findings of
Kariuki and Kako (1999) who observed increase in length of
spike with increasing bulb size in Ornithogalum
saundersiae.
Spike weight (g): As far as spike weight is concerned T7
(coconut coir + poultry manure, 1:1) produced the heaviest
spike of 92.5 g. The other treatments, i.e. T2 (100% coconut
coir), T4 (sand + poultry manure, 1:1 ), T5 (sand + leaf
compost, 1:1 ), T6 (coconut coir + FYM, 1:1 ), T8 (coconut
coir + leaf manure, 1:1) produced spikes with weight of 19.1
g, 34.3 g, 8.3 g, 5.02 g 30.25 g and 7.8 g, respectively and
100% sand did not produce any spike.
Spike diameter (cm): The data regarding spike diameter
showed significant results for all treatments (Table 3).
Maximum diameter of 0.6 cm was contributed by T7
(coconut coir + poultry manure, 1:1) followed by T5 (0.5)
and T3 (0.4) followed by diameter of 0.2 cm, 0.2 cm and 0.1
cm was observed in T8 (coconut coir + leaf manure, 1:1), T2
(100% coconut coir), T4 (sand + poultry manure, 1:1),
respectively.
Days to start wither: Days to start wither are showed in
Table 3. Four treatments T7 (coconut coir + poultry manure,
1:1), T5 (sand + leaf compost, 1:1 ), T3(sand + FYM, 1:1), T6
(coco nut coir + FYM, 1:1) took 4 days to start wither while
T2 (100% coconut coir), T4 (sand + poultry manure, 1:1), T8
(coconut coir + leaf compost, 1:1) took 1.3, 0.5 and 1 day to
start wither, respectively.
Floral characteristics:
Number of florets per spike: Table 3 shows that maximum
number of florets 27.3 were produced by T5 (sand + leaf
compost, 1:1) followed by T6 (26.8) and T7 (23.3). The T3
(sand + FYM, 1:1), T8 (coconut coir + leaf compost, 1:1), T2
(100% coconut coir), T4 (sand + poultry manure, 1:1) were
able to produce 18.6, 8.6, 5.5 and 2.81 floret, respectively
while T1 (100% sand) did notproduce any spike. The above
Table 3. Effect of potting media on floral characteristics of Polianthes tuberosa L.
Treatment
Spike Diameter
(cm)
Days to start
Wither
Floral Diameter
(cm)
Number of
flowers per spike
Shelf life
T1
0.00 F
0.00 C
0.00 D
0.00 F
0.00 D
T2
0.20 D
1.30 B
1.00 C
8.00 D
2.70 C
T3
0.40 C
4.00 A
2.20 B
18.60 C
8.90 B
T4
0.10 C
0.50 BC
0.80 C
2.81 EF
2.00 CD
T5
0.40 C
3.30 A
3.40 A
27.30 A
12.30 A
T6
0.50 B
3.30 A
3.10 A
23.30 B
11.00 AB
T7
0.60 A
4.00 A
3.10 A
26.80 AB
12.00 A
T8
0.20 D
1.00 BC
0.70 C
6.50 DE
2.80 C
Mean values denoted by the same letters are not significantly different at p=0.05 level

Ikram, Habib & Khalid
124
mentioned results are fully supported by Riaz et al. (2008)
who found that maximum number of flower per plant were
produced by a mixture containing leaf manure. Similar
results were obtained by (Singh, 2000) who observed that
larger corms produced more florets in gladiolus.
Floral diameter (cm): Floral diameter presented in Table 3
shows maximum floret diameter of 3.4 cm in T5 (sand + leaf
compost) followed by T6 (coconut coir + FYM) and T7
(coconut coir + poultry manure) by producing spike
diameter of 3.1 cm and was statistically at par with T5.
While rest of the treatments including T3 (sand + FYM), T4
(sand + poultry manure), T2 (100% coconut coir) and T8
(coconut coir + leaf manure) contributed to floral diameter
of 2.2 cm, 0.8 cm.0.7 cm and 1 cm, respectively. These
results are supported by Awang and Ismail (1997) who
reported that growth mixture with leaf manure produced the
second largest flower size.
Shelf life: From the data showed in Table 3 it is clear that
maximum shelf life of 12.3 days was observed in T5 (sand +
leaf manure, 1:1) followed by T7 (coconut coir + poultry,
manure 1:1) with shelf life of 12 days and are statistically
significant with each other. The treatments like T6 (coconut
coir + FYM), T3 (sand + FYM), T2 (100% coconut coir), T8
(coconut coir + leaf compost) and T4 (sand + poultry
manure) contributed to shelf life of 11, 8.9, 2.7 2.8, and 2
days, respectively.
CONCLUSION
The growth characteristics of Polianthes tuberosa were
significantly affected by the mixture of coconut coir and
FYM because. It is rich in minerals that are required for the
efficient growth for crop plant. The maximum contribution
to the floral characters was observed in the potting mixture
containing sand and poultry manure because poultry manure
is well decomposed and all the required nutrients were
readily available to the plant.
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