Standardization of growing media for anthurium (Anthurium andreanum L.) cv. ‘Flame” under protected conditions

The present experiment was carried out at the Greenhouse Complex of ASPEE College of Horticulture and Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, during 20072008 to standardize the potting media for anthurium (Anthurium andreanum L.) cv. ‘Flame’ grown under protected conditions. The pot experiment was conducted in Completely Randomized Design with three replications and thirteen treatments of different growing media combinations. These treatments were prepared by volumetric ratios of basic medias viz. rice husk (2), saw dust (2), coco peat (2), compost (2), soil (1), sand (1), FYM (1), brick pieces (1) and wooden charcoal (1). Results indicate that the combinations of growing media significantly influenced the vegetative growth, flowering pattern and flower production of anthurium. The over all best performance was recorded in media of saw dust + brick pieces + wooden charcoal + soil + sand + FYM (T7) in the ratio of 2:1:1:1:1:1 for the parameters like leaf area (229.11 cm²), petiole length (21.31 cm), minimum days to flowering (260.47), stalk length (36.16 cm), spathe length and width (8.5 cm and 8.08 cm, respectively) and number of flowers per plant (6.07). The maximum number of leaves per plant (7.40), highest number of suckers per plant (5.00) and longest inflorescence longevity (63.53 days) were recorded in treatment combination involving saw dust + wooden charcoal + soil + sand + FYM (T₆) in the ratio of 2:1:1:1:1. The growing media consisting soil: sand: FYM (T₁) recorded the least value for the growth and flowering parameters.