Standardization of growing media for vertical planting of crossandra (Crossandra infundibuliformis L.)

The present investigation, titled “Standardization of Growing Media for Vertical Planting of Crossandra (Crossandra infundibuliformis L.),” was conducted at the Hi-Tech Flowers and Vegetable Production Unit, College of Agriculture, Pune, Maharashtra, during 2023-24. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications and nine treatment combinations of different growing media viz., red soil, cocopeat, spent mushroom and bagasse. The results showed significant differences in growth parameters. The Treatment T₄ (50% Red soil + 25% Cocopeat + 25% Spent Mushroom) (v/v) was found to be superior for several parameters, including plant height (53.63 cm), the number of primary branches per plant (5.77), the number of secondary branches per plant (12.57), plant spread (E-W) (33.68 cm), plant spread (N-S) (33.55 cm), spike length (15.69 cm), rachis length (8.11 cm), the number of spikes per plant (113.23), the number of flowers per spike (37.48), the number of flowers per plant (1224.70), weight of flowers per plant (118.17 g), flower yield per bag (1106.59 g).

Therefore, it can be concluded that for vertical planting of crossandra var. Arka Chenna, the growing media combination of 50% Red soil + 25% Cocopeat + 25% Spent Mushroom (v/v) was superior compared to other treatment combinations.