Effect of vermicompost on vegetative growth and nutrient status of acclimatized Grand Naine banana plants

S A M Hassan; Rania A Taha; Nagwa S M Zaied; Entsar M Essa; Abd El-Rheem Kh M

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10914

Effect of vermicompost on vegetative growth and nutrient status of acclimatized Grand Naine banana plants

Heliyon. 2022 Oct 2;8(10):e10914. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10914. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

S A M Hassan^{1

2}, Rania A Taha^{1

2}, Nagwa S M Zaied^{1

2}, Entsar M Essa³, Abd El-Rheem Kh M⁴

Affiliations

¹ Pomology Department, Agriculture and Biological Research Institute, National Research Centre (NRC), 33 El Buhouth St., Dokki, Giza, 12622, Egypt.
² Tissue Culture Technique Lab, Central Laboratories Network, NRC, Egypt.
³ Soils and Water Use Department, NRC, Egypt.
⁴ Plant Nutrition Department, NRC, Egypt.

Abstract

Novel approach for introducing vermicompost as an acclimatization soil for banana plants was conducted. Different potting mixture of vermicompost, vermiculite, peatmoss and sand at different ratios were used to study the effect of different agricultural media on vegetative growth and leaf mineral content of banana tissue culture plantlets, after acclimatization stage. Two different trial periods were studied; 12 and 24 weeks in these agricultural media for two seasons. Results indicated that using vermicompost combined with vermiculite and sand (33.3% for each) recorded the best results for the most vegetative growth studied parameters (plant height, plants and roots length, stem diameter, leaf width and shoot and root fresh and dry weight). Moreover, vermicompost at 50% + peat moss at 50% significantly increased total chlorophyll content in banana plants. Furthermore, N, P and K plant analysis has shown that vermicompost at 75% with peat moss gave the highest mineral content values at the two periods. Addition of vermicompost to the culture media improved in vitro-produced banana plants in greenhouse.

Keywords: Acclimatization; Banana; Culture medium; Leaf mineral content; Vermicompost.