THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT GROWING MEDIA ON THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF WHITE ASTERS (SYMPHYOTRICHUM ERICOIDES L.)

All good potting media should meet the needs of plant’s root for air, water, nutrients and support. Satisfactory growth of annual transplants and nursery crops can occur in soilless media made up of a wide range of components. White asters are important flowering plants usually grown in gardens, as potted plants and bedding plants. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of different growing media on the growth and development of white asters. The different treatments combinations used included: garden soil; soil + sand (1:1); sand + kraal manure (1:1); soil + sand + compost (1:1:1), and soil + sand + shredded bark (1:1:3). The treatments were arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). White asters grown in soil/sand/shredded bark mixture had the highest number of leaves (32.0), plant height (23.2 cm), leaf area (30.9 cm2), leaf area index (0.35), number of flowers (18.8), flower diameter (4.8 cm), shoot fresh mass (27.3 g), shoot dry mass (5.8 g), root fresh mass (3.6 g), root dry mass (0.6 g), and root length (13.2 cm). Plants grown in soil/sand/shredded bark mixture had twice the shoot dry mass of those grown in soil/sand/ compost medium. The roots dry mass of plants grown in soil/sand/shredded bark mixture was more than double that of plants grown in soil/sand/compost mixture. Plants grown in soil/sand/compost mixture had the lowest number of leaves (17.3), plant height (18.5 cm), leaf area (17.2 cm), leaf area index (0.19), number of flowers (11.5), flower diameter (4.2 cm), shoot fresh mass (13.6 g), shoot dry mass (2.9 g), root fresh mass (1.3 g), and root dry mass (0.3 g). Therefore, it can be recommended that farmers or florists who want to grow white asters may use soil/sand/shredded bark mixture for optimum growth and development of the plants

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT GROWING MEDIA ON THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF WHITE ASTERS (SYMPHYOTRICHUM ERICOIDES L.)

All good potting media should meet the needs of plant’s root for air, water, nutrients and support. Satisfactory growth of annual transplants and nursery crops can occur in soilless media made up of a wide range of components. White asters are important flowering plants usually grown in gardens, as potted plants and bedding plants. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of different growing media on the growth and development of white asters. The different treatments combinations used included: garden soil; soil + sand (1:1); sand + kraal manure (1:1); soil + sand + compost (1:1:1), and soil + sand + shredded bark (1:1:3). The treatments were arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). White asters grown in soil/sand/shredded bark mixture had the highest number of leaves (32.0), plant height (23.2 cm), leaf area (30.9 cm2), leaf area index (0.35), number of flowers (18.8), flower diameter (4.8 cm), shoot fresh mass (27.3 g), shoot dry mass (5.8 g), root fresh mass (3.6 g), root dry mass (0.6 g), and root length (13.2 cm). Plants grown in soil/sand/shredded bark mixture had twice the shoot dry mass of those grown in soil/sand/ compost medium. The roots dry mass of plants grown in soil/sand/shredded bark mixture was more than double that of plants grown in soil/sand/compost mixture. Plants grown in soil/sand/compost mixture had the lowest number of leaves (17.3), plant height (18.5 cm), leaf area (17.2 cm), leaf area index (0.19), number of flowers (11.5), flower diameter (4.2 cm), shoot fresh mass (13.6 g), shoot dry mass (2.9 g), root fresh mass (1.3 g), and root dry mass (0.3 g). Therefore, it can be recommended that farmers or florists who want to grow white asters may use soil/sand/shredded bark mixture for optimum growth and development of the plants

Effects of Kraal Manure ApplicationRates on Growth and Yield of Wild Okra (Corchorus olitorius L) in a Sub-tropical Environment

Abstract: Wild okra (Corchorus olitorius L) is an important indigenous vegetable in Swaziland. Although the crop is a popular vegetable among rural communities, not much has been done to produce organic fertilizer application recommendations for its production. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of kraal manure application rates on growth and yield of wild okra. Kraal manure was applied at varying rates of 20, 40 and 60 tons/ha in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) where 2.3.2 (22) an inorganic fertilizer was used as a control, and was applied at the rate of 150 kg/ha. For every increase in the application level of kraal manure there were significant (p<0.05) increases in all the growth parameters that were measured. There were also significant (p<0.05) differences of fresh mass and dry mass yield of wild okra. There was an increase in fresh and dry mass yield with every increase in application level of kraal manure while the least fresh and dry mass was recorded in plants provided with 2.3.2 (22). Kraal manure applied at 60 ton/ha gave the highest yield of wild okra under the conditions of this experiment