Performance of Asparagus sprengeri and Dracaena sanderiana in Different Potting and Rooting Media

Abstract

A search has been conducted for suitable native materials for potting and rooting mixtures as substitutes for peat moss in the production of ornamental plants in Puerto Rico. Materials such as sawdust, wood shavings, muck soil, residues from the tobacco industry, spent coffee, coffee parchment, dry coffee leaves, sugarcane bagasse, and peat moss were mixed with perlite, vermiculite, calcined clay, or sand and these various mixtures were evaluated as rooting media. Asparagus sprengeri did not grow well in tobacco residue or spent coffee mixtures. Potting mixtures made with dry coffee leaves and muck soil were as good as those made with peat moss. Sugarcane bagasse, wood shavings, and sawdust were intermediate in value as potting mixtures for plant healthiness and appearance. Dracaena sanderiana tops were placed in a constant mist propagator to root in different media. Wood shavings did not prove suitable for foiled or bound plants. Sugarcane bagasse, dry coffee leaves, coffee parchment, water hyacinth roots, and sawdust resulted in very stable bound plants comparable to those rooted in peat moss. Residues from the tobacco industry caused a basal-end rot but the cuttings eventually produced roots at the nodes.