Effect of Rooting Media on Germination, Shoot and Root Growth of Acid Lime (Citrus Aurantifolia. Swingle)

Abstract

The present study was conducted during 2020-2021 at Horticultural Research Centre, of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Modipuram, Meerut. Experiment was conducted to analyze the effect of different growing media compositions comprising soil, sand, FYM, cocopeat, leaf mould and vermicompost on two cultivars of citrus (Balaji and NRCC-7). The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) and the numbers of treatment were 12 and each replicated 4 times. Each treatment consists of two plants. Total 96 plants were selected for study. The observations were recorded on days to germination, germination percentage, final survival percentage, number of shoot/seedling, average shoot length, number of leaves/shoot, total number of leaves/seedling, length of largest shoot, height of seedling, girth of seedling stem, number of roots/seedling, fresh weight of shoot, dry weight of shoot, fresh weight of root, dry weight of root. The results revealed that maximum germination per cent (92.005), final survival per cent (95.580), number of shoot/seedling (12.750), average shoot length (15.475 cm), number of leaves/shoot (14.548), total number of leaves/seedling (64.750), number of roots/seedling (5.250) and fresh weight of root (5.210 gm) are found maximum in NRCC-7 variety with growing media composition T5 (Soil + Cocopeat + Vermicompost). Some other observations shows maximum shoot length (15.475 cm), length of longest shoot (24.950 cm), height of seedling (33.623 cm), girth of seedling stem (0.253 cm), fresh weight of shoot (15.063 gm) are found in Balaji with growing media composition T5 (Soil + Cocopeat + Vermicompost). The maximum days to germination are found maximum in Balaji with T1 (Soil + Sand + FYM). The maximum dry shoot weight (9.015) is found in Balaji with growing media T6 (Soil + Sand + FYM + Azotobactor). Maximum dry weight of root (1.993) is found in Balaji with T4 (Soil + Cocopeat + FYM). The present study revealed that NRCC-7 cultivar with growing media composition T5 (Soil + Cocopeat + Vermicompost) showed significantly higher growth in maximum number of parameters studied.