ROOT GROWTH AND QUALITY RATING OF SCHEFFLERA “GOLDEN CAPELLA” AND FICUS “STARLIGHT” ON SEVERAL PEAT-BASED SUBSTRATES.

The suitability of a particular mixture as substrate is largely dependent on local conditions: greenhouse climate, irrigation and culture management, growers’ experience, availability and cost of the basic materials, etc.

Looking for an economic standard substrate for the Tenerife foliage industry, growth and quality of Schefflera "Golden Capella" and Ficus "Starlight" were studied on the following mixtures: Peat (S1), Peat + Aqua-Gro ‘G’ (S1w), Peat: Basaltic cinder, 3:1 by vol. + Aqua-Gro ‘G’ (S2w), and Peat : Basaltic cinder : Exp.
Polystyrene, 2:1:1 by vol. + Aqua-Gro ‘G’ (S3w). The wetting agent Aqua-Grow ‘G’ was applied at a rate of 0.9 kg/m³.

After 4 months of culture, when a commercial size was reached, plant height, canopy diameter and number of leaves were measured.
Plant quality was rated from 0 to 100 in accordance with the American Florist’s Assoc. standards.
A similar rating was set up for root system evaluation.

For Schefflera, S1w gave the best results of all treatments, mainly on root development: peat alone proved to be the poorest.

For Ficus, best results were obtained with S1w and S3w.
Although no significant differences in quality were observed using S1, plants showed less developed root systems.

International Symposium on Horticultural Substrates other than Soil in situ

M.C. Cid, A.R. Socorro, L. Perez-Rosales

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1993.342.37