Effect of Sowing Media and Variety on Seedling Root Growth and Field Performance of Early Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis)

An experiment was conducted inside greenhouse and in the field of the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019) to assess the effect of sowing media and variety  on root growth of  early cauliflower seedling and subsequent performance of seedling  in the main field. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design with eight treatments comprising of four sowing media [M1-cocopeat (60%): vermiculite (20%): perlite (20%), M2-cocopeat (50%): vermicompost (50%), M3-cocopeat (50%): vermicompost (50%): microbial consortium and M4-Conventional nursery] and two varieties [V1 (White Diamond) and V2 (CFL1522)] replicated thrice. Treatment M1, M2 and M3 were inside green house. The results revealed root parameters at seedling stage were significantly influenced by sowing media. The highest root length (4.94 cm), root fresh weight (0.26 mg) and root dry weight (0.07 mg) of seedling were recorded in M3. Between the two varieties (i.e V1 and V2) V1 exhibited the maximum root length (4.24 cm) while no significant difference was observed for root fresh and dry weight. Among interactions, M2V1 recorded maximum root length (5.83 cm) while M3V1 recorded maximum root fresh weight (0.28 mg) and dry weight (0.08 mg) of seedling. After transplanting in the field, significant variations for root parameters were observed. Cauliflower plants that were grown in M3 at seedling stage recorded highest root length (21.94 cm) and  volume (74.59 cm3) but for root dry weight  seedlings that were grown in M2  recorded maximum  dry weight i.e. 3.28 g. Variety V2 recorded maximum root length (17.76 cm) and dry weight (2.68 g).  M3V2   recorded highest root length (22.01 cm), volume (76.46 cm3) and dry weight (3.48 g). Curd characters were also significantly influence by media while variety showed significant variation for days to curd initiation, harvesting and curd diameter only. M3 recorded minimum days for curd initiation and harvesting (37.09 and 53.26), maximum curd compactness (53.05 g/cm3), diameter (12.84 cm), weight (0.41 kg) and shelf life (8.89 days).The interaction effect between media and variety was also found significant. The combination M3V1 recorded  minimum days  for curd initiation and harvesting ((36.55 and 52.32), maximum curd compactness (53.15 g/cm3)  while M3V2 recorded maximum curd  diameter (13.51 cm), curd weight (0.41 kg) and shelf life (9.50 days) .The  combination M4V2  recorded maximum days  for curd initiation and harvesting (45.46 and 63.87),minimum curd compactness (42.77 g/cm3)  and M4V1 recorded minimum curd diameter (10.28 cm), shelf life (4.95 days)  while  both  M4V1 and M4V2 recorded minimum curd weight (0.27 kg). From the present investigation it can be concluded that for producing quality seedlings in the nursery which will further show good performance in the field seedling can be raised in media(M3) i.e.cocopeat (50): vermicompost (50): microbial consortium @ 1:100 under protected condition.