A Comparison of Growth Media for Cyclamens in a Controlled Environment

摘要

Cyclamens are considered an important crop for winter to supplement the income of enterprises during the cold season. Container grown cyclamens are considered an expensive commercial horticultural crop where growth media is seen as a factor which contributes significantly to the production costs. The economic landscape in South Africa dictates that production costs are kept as low as possible without compromising on quality. Determining the most suitable growth media and maintaining quality would bebeneficial for the cyclamen growers. It would not only enhance plant growth, decrease disease, and pest management but allow for competitive prices at the market. The focus of this study was on the comparison of seven growth media in order to determine the most suitable growth media for the South African environment. Existing scholarly and trade literature together with the existing growth media commercially available determined the selection of growth media for the study. The selected growth media included: (1) Cyclamen mix — a commercially imported mixture consisting of coir and perlite, (2) Cyclamen mix - 45 Mix, (3) 49 Mix — a mixture of pine bark and coir, (4) 45 Mix — a mixture of pine bark and coir, (5) 7 Mix — pine bark, (6) course coir, and (7) Klasmann peat substrate 4 — a commercially imported medium consisting of peat. The study involved subjecting container cyclamens to a visual observation measuring instrument which was created from using existing measuring instruments used to compare the growth media of cyclamens in literature. The measuring instrument criteria included the following measurements and observations: Total plant height, plant diameter, fresh plant mass, number of leaves, leaf width, foliage fresh weight, number of flowers, diameter of corm, and root mass. Based on the results of the measuring instrument, the most suitable growth media for container cyclamens for South African circumstances will be identified. Recommendations will be made as to the most suitable growth media based on the results of the study.