Effect of planting bed and soilless media on growth and yield of potato minitubers

The present study was conducted in a randomized complete block design with eight treatments and four replications. Eight types of potting media including perlite, perlite + vermiculite (1:1 v:v), perlite + peat moss (1:1 v:v), soil + perlite (1:1 v:v), perlite + soil + cow manure compost (4:3:3 v:v), perlite + soil + vermicompost (4:3:3 v:v:v), field soil and perlite + peat moss as conventional nutrient solution and planting media used in greenhouse (Control). During the growing season, the leaf area, plant height, stem basal diameter, tuber fresh and dry weight, tuber specific weight and tuber number per plant were measured. Analysis of variance showed significant differences between treatments in leaf area index, plant height, tuber number per plant and stem basal diameter. Growth and production of minituber were low in soil and soil containing medium. Therefore, the productivity of local soil was not corrected by any soil amendments. Soil containing medium had the highest bulk and particle density, EC and pH and the lowest porosity then produced the lowest number of tubers and fresh and dry weight of tubers. The highest number of tubers was produced in perlit + peat moss treatment. The maximum amounts of plant height were recorded in soil + perlite + compost treatments. The perlite + peat moss medium (1:1 v:v) is recommended for production of potato minitubers.