Abstract:
This study investigated the effect of media composition and drainage on multiplication
of in-vitro potato (Solanum tuberosum L) single nodal cuttings in a semi autotrophic
system due to the high cost of potato seed production. A completely randomized design
(CRD) with six treatments were tested: Ti (100% coir without drainage), T2 (100oA
fine sand without drainage), T3 (1:1 mixture of fine sand and coir without drainage),
T4 (100% coir with drainage), T5 (100% fine sand with drainage), and T6 (1:1 mixture
of fine sand and coir with drainage), with each treatment replicated three times (six
cuttings per replicate). Data were statistically analyzed using Minitab 17 statistical
software. Effect of these growing media on plant growth parameters and drainage
system of its In-vitro potato plantlets. Result showed that different growth parameters
of the potato plantlet were affected by the different growing media. Although survival
plant percentage (P:0.309) did not differ significantly among treatments with T3 and
T6 both achieving 100.0 + 0.0% survival plant percentage, significant (p<0.05)
differences were found in stem height (p:0.005), leaf number (p:0.018), internodal
cutting number (p:0.027), internodal cutting height (0.005), root length (p:0.000),
number of roots (p:0.012), fresh weight (p:0.007), dry weight (p:0.037), and moisture
content (p:0.037). The results recorded T6 the highest stem height (8.90 + 0.53 cm),
highest number of leaves (14.00 + 5.29), highest number of internodal cuttings (5.33 +
0.58), highest Fresh weight (0.70 + 0.15 g) and highest moisture content (93.55 +
0.3604), and T3 exhibited the greatest internodal cutting height (1.75 + 0.18 cm) and
dry weight (0.050 + 0.0051 g), whereas T5 consistently demonstrated lower
perfotmance across several parameters such as lowest stem height(2.66 + 0.56 cm),
lowest number of inter nodal cuttings (2.34 + 0.58), lowest inter nodal cuttings height
(0.91 +0.08 cm), lowest fresh weight (0.26 +0.1 1 g), lowest dry weight (0.027 + 0.0085
g) and lowest moisture content (89.31 +1.61 %).It was observed, 1:1 mixture of fine
sand and coir with drainage (T6) provide the best medium in many aspects. Treatment
6 produced favourable effects on other relevant growth. These findings suggest that a
1:1 mixture of fine sand and coir, particularly when combined with drainage, optimizes
plant survival, growth, and root development, thereby offering a promising strategy to
reduce the production costs associated with potato plantlets multiplication.
