EVALUATION OF GROWING MEDIUM COMPOSITION ON MARIGOLD (TAGETES ERECTA L.) SEEDLING QUALITY

Jianwei Hou, Guochen Yang
This project investigated the influences of growing media containing different proportions of vermiculite, perlite, peat, well-composted chicken manure and well-composted hog waste on the seedling quality of marigolds under greenhouse conditions. The qualities measured were dry weight, stem diameter, seedling height, the strong seedling index, photosynthesis rate and chlorophyll contents. Our results indicated that a growing medium containing vermiculite, peat, well-composted chicken manure and perlite at the ratio of 3:4:2:1 produced the best quality marigold seedlings and produced significantly better results than other mix ratios. Seedlings grown in this growing medium averaged a total seedling dry weight of 152.11 mg, an underground portion dry weight of 39.21 mg, a stem diameter of 0.27 cm, a seedling height of 6.76 cm, a strong seedling index of 58.87, a photosynthesis rate of 2.10 µmol CO2 m-2 s-1, and a chlorophyll content of 2.46 mg dm-2.
Jianwei Hou, and Guochen Yang, (2011). EVALUATION OF GROWING MEDIUM COMPOSITION ON MARIGOLD (TAGETES ERECTA L.) SEEDLING QUALITY. Acta Hortic. 891, 237-240
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.891.28
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.891.28
matrix, dry weight, chlorophyll, photosynthesis rate, strong seedling index
English

Acta Horticulturae