EBB AND FLOW CULTIVATION OF CHRYSANTHEMUM CUTTINGS IN DIFFERENT GROWING MEDIA

With the aim of improving rhizosphere conditions during propagation of greenhouse crops from cuttings, root formation and shoot growth of chrysanthemum cuttings on ebb-and-flow hydroponic benches were studied.

At a fixed irrigation frequency of 24 day^-1, shoot growth of the cuttings during the first week after the emergence of new roots was dependent on the type of root medium used.
An inverse correlation was found between cutting growth and water content of the media between irrigations; bare-rooted cuttings, growing in the absence of any root-medium, showed the highest growth rate.
Similarly, differences in growth could be induced by varying the concentration of the nutrient solution supplied to cuttings in jute plugs at a fixed frequency of 24 day^-1. These results indicate that during the propagation of cuttings in artificial root media, the application of nutrient solution should be carefully optimized, and that nutrient availability at the root surface is probably a critical factor.

Small differences in biomass at the time of transplanting the cuttings to a soilless ebb-and-flow cultivation system resulted in larger differences after two weeks of growth.
This suggests a potential for extra yield in response to an increase in fresh weight of the starting material.

International Symposium on Growing Media & Plant Nutrition in Horticulture

F. Buwalda, R. Frenck, B. Löbker, B. van den Berg-De Vos, K.S. Kim

cuttings, Dendranthema indicum, growth, irrigation, mineral nutrition, propagation, root media, water

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1995.401.23