Abstract
Lack of suitable variety as well as appropriate growth medium constitutes major problems to flower production. It is against this backdrop that a pot experiment was carried out in the Department of Crop and Soil Science Demonstration Plot, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria between April and May, 2013 to determine the growth responses of two varieties of Heliconia flowers to selected growth media. The experiment comprised of two Heliconia varieties (Jade and Golden Torch) and six (6) growth media namely, topsoil (control), river sand, coconut husk, topsoil + river sand (i€±i€oi€±), topsoil + coconut husk (i€±i€oi€±) and river sand + coconut husk (i€±i€oi€±). The experiment was in a 2×6 factorial arrangement fitted into a completely randomized design replicated thrice. Results showed that topsoil + coconut husk (i€±i€oi€±) performed best at 4WAP by producing the highest stem height (8.7 cm), stem girth (2.9 cm) number of leaves (3.3), leaf area (41.5 cm2) and longest root length (14.5) and more roots number (4.1) and this was followed by river sandi€«coconut husk (1i€o1) while the sole river sand gave the lowest vegetative traits. There was no significant difference on the vegetative parameters of the two varieties of Heliconia flowers and also on interaction. According to this experiment, topsoil + coconut husk (i€±i€oi€±) growth media is the better one for the growth of these Heliconia two varieties of flowers in the area of study. However, it needs more study on soil to recommend for farmers and the continual use of top soil as a candidate growth medium need to be discouraged because it is non-renewable hence, in the absence of top soil, river sand in combination with coconut husk (i€±i€oi€±) could serve as next available alternative. Key words: Flowers, Golden Torch, growth, jade, media, responses, varieties.
Highlights
Flowers are an integral part of human life due to their diversity in beauty, form, texture, color and fragrance (Urooj-Ul-Nissa et al, 2015)
Jade (Heliconia psittacorum) and Golden Torch
Physiochemical properties of the growing media pose their effect on the plant growth (Wilkerson, 2002); the composition of the Factor Growth media Top soil River sand Coconut husk Top soil River sand ( 1 1) Top soil coconut husk (1 1) River sand + coconut husk (1 1) least significant differences (LSD) P 0.05
Summary
Flowers are an integral part of human life due to their diversity in beauty, form, texture, color and fragrance (Urooj-Ul-Nissa et al, 2015). Heliconia derived from the Greek word Helikonios, is a genus of about 100 to 200 species of flowering plants. What most people would call the 'flower' is a group of colorful specialized leaves, called bracts
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