Influence of media on establishment and growth of <i>Chrysanthemum morifolii</i>

Abstract

The use of different composition of growth media is fast becoming an alternative method in early establishment of ornamental plants in promoting growth, flowering and tremendous reduction in production cost. Experiments were conducted in 2009 and 2010 planting season to determine the effect of different growth media on the establishment and growth of Chrysanthemum morifolii. The growth media used included: Topsoil (T), Saw dust (S), River sand (RS), Topsoil + Saw dust (T+S) (4:1), Topsoil + Poultry manure (T+P) (4:1); Saw dust + Riversand (S+RS) (3:1), Riversand + Poultry Manure (RS+P) (3:1), Topsoil + Poultry Manure + River sand + Saw dust (T+P+RS+S) (2:1 :1:1), Topsoil+ River sand + Poultry Manure (T+RS+P) (2: 1:1). Result showed that the media, top soil + poultry manure (4:1) performed best supporting the highest number of branches (3.47, 6.25), branch length (23.93, 9.18) and number of leaves (96.13, 58. 70) in Chrysanthemum plants in 2009 and 2010, respectively. This suggests that the growth media, top soil + poultry manure (4:1) could best support early establishment of Chrysanthemum which will have tremendous influence on its propagation andproduction cost.