Off-season raising of bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.] seedlings using different growing media under polytunnel

The experiment was conducted on bottle gourd for off-season nursery raising in the semi-arid region of Punjab during 2020 and 2021. The experiment comprised of four treatments i.e., M₁ - Vermiculite + Perlite + cocopeat, 1:1:3, M₂ -Vermiculite + Perlite + Vermicompost, 1:1:3, M₃ -Rice bran + Vermicompost, 1:3, M₄ - Sand + Soil + FYM, 1:1:3. The plug tray of 50 cells was used and kept under polytunnel condition and out of the four treatments; M₃ (Rice bran + Vermicompost, 1:3) media gave the better response during both the years. The maximum germination percentage (59.40), seedling girth (0.480), number of leaves (3.53), percent healthy seedling (93.21) were found in both the years in M₃ followed by M₁ (Vermiculite + Perlite + cocopeat, 1:1:3) media. Similarly, higher shoot and root parameters were recorded for media M₃ (Rice bran + Vermicompost, 1:3) followed by M₁ (Vermiculite + Perlite + cocopeat, 1:1:3). Maximum B: C ratio (3.37:1) of bottle gourd seedlings in both the years was observed under M₃ (Rice bran + Vermicompost, 1:3) respectively. Further, it may be concluded that M₃ (Rice bran + Vermicompost, 1:3) media is worth recommendable for farmers to get higher net returns from bottle gourd seedlings.