Effect of supporting medium on photoautotrophic microplant survival and growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum)

Photoautotrophic micropropagation (PAM) in plants requires establishment of photosynthesis promoting conditions like higher CO₂ concentration and ample light intensity. Besides these, suitable supporting medium is a pre-requisite for development of vigorous plant development and successful PAM system. The study was, therefore, designed to examine the effects of different supporting medium on PAM in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Four different supporting mediums were evaluated including peat moss (PM), sand (SD), perlite (PL), vermiculite (VM) and liquid nutrition medium (NM) containing no supporting matrix as control. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in terms of shoot length, root length, leaf area and fresh weight between the different supporting mediums used. Peat moss not only produced higher survival percentage (67.7%), but also significantly higher shoot length, root length, leaf area and fresh weight. Control (NM) was observed to be mostly at par to the other treatments sand (SD) and vermiculite (VM). Perlite was significantly inferior producing lesser shoot lengths and fresh weight.The water retention capacity and porosity of peat moss was also greater than all the other supporting mediums, promoting microplant growth. Therefore, peat moss may be used as a suitable supporting medium for PAM in potato. The method reported in the study is simple, easy, effective and economical for micropropagation of potato and may be used for supplementing the Hi-tech potato seed production involving tissue culture and aeroponics technologies.