Impact of Various Rooting Media on Ficus Lyrata ‘Fiddle Leaf Fig’ Capacity for Rooting and Growth

Abstract

Aims: To check the growth performance of Ficus lyrata using various rooting media in different combinations.  Study Design: Completely Randomized Design.  Place and Duration of Study: The present study was carried out during 2020-21 under a low-cost polyhouse of Instructional-cum-Research farm, Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University, India.  Methodology: Cuttings with at least 2-3 nodes and one leaf were taken and planted in ten treatments combination with three replications viz.; T1: Top soil (control), T2: Riverbed coarse sand, T3: Riverbed fine sand, T4: Cocopeat, T5: Perlite, T6: Rice husk, T7: Soil + Riverbed fine sand + Cocopeat, T8: Soil + Cocopeat + Perlite, T9: Soil + Cocopeat + Perlite + Rice husk, T10: Riverbed fine sand + Cocopeat + Perlite.  Results: According to the data, it was observed that the best treatment with respect to shoot length (15.63 cm), number of leaves per cutting (4.33), stem diameter (0.38 mm), leaf length (13.40 cm), leaf breadth (10.40 cm), root length (31.29 cm) and number of roots per cutting (32.96) was noticed in T10 (Riverbed fine sand + Cocopeat + Perlite) while the lowest for all the characters was reported in T1 (Top soil). Conclusion: The combined application of soilless media Riverbed fine sand + Cocopeat + Perlite was found to be give better rooting and vegetative performance in cuttings of Fiddle Leaf Fig.