RANJIT SINGH SPEHIA*, SHAILESH KUMAR SINGH1, MEERA DEVI, NIRMLA CHAUHAN2, SUKHPREET SINGH, DEEPAK SHARMA3 AND JAGJEET CHAND SHARMA
Department of Soil Science and Water Management, Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry,
Nauni, Solan-173 230 (H. P.), India
*(e-mail : rsspehia.33044@gmail.com; Mobile : 9805330236)
(Received : January 29, 2019; Accepted : )
ABSTRACT
Soilless culture provides an alternative to soil culture when serious soil problems (i. e. soil born pests, soil
salinity, chemical residues in soil, lack of fertile soil) create difficulties in traditional soil-based production.
Soilless culture includes growing media like cocopeat, vermiculite, perlite, etc. or hydroponics system. The
study was conducted on growing media during 2016 and 2017 at Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. The
treatments consisted of different growing media and their combinations. Nutrient requirement was met
through fertigation and all treatments were supplied with equal amount of nutrients. Increased nutrient
uptake of N (54.34%), P (35.16%) and K (50.33%) was recorded under the treatment containing
cocopeat+vermicompost (70 : 30 w/w) compared to the control i. e. cocopeat media alone. The effect of
higher uptake of nutrient was evident in 10.19% increased yield in the same treatment vis-à-vis control.
Key words :Cocopeat, nutrient uptake, soilless cultivation, vermicompost, vermiculite