Effect of organic amendments for growth enhancement of ornamental cactus: Mammillaria prolifera (P. Mill.)

Abstract

Cactus is a popular group of house plants in the world due to their attractive morphology. Among the ornamental cacti, Mammillaria prolifera (P. Mill.) is widely cultivated in different geographical regions of the world. Chemical fertilizers are excessively applied in cacti nurseries and their toxic traces such as arsenic, chromium, cadmium, and mercury accumulate in water resources and soil causing environmental pollution. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a novel organic liquid fertilizer (OLF) to enhance the growth of M. prolifera, as a substitute for chemical fertilizers. The OLF was prepared by aerobically digesting a mixture of Tithonia diversifolia leaves, coconut husk ash, rock phosphate, and dried cow dung in 6.0 L of water for six weeks. 5%, 15%, and 25% OLF concentrations were used as the OLF treatments along with “Lonzin” as the chemical liquid fertilizer (CLF). Samesized M. prolifera stems were transplanted in 10 cm diameter pots filled with a cactus growth medium prepared by mixing coarse sand, sand, and compost. After one month of growing, M. prolifera plants were randomly assigned to OLF treatments and CLF treatment with 15 replicates. Treated plants were placed in a plant house at 27 0C temperature and 60% relative humidity. All the treatments were applied once a week for six months. After six months of the experiment, the height and width of the mother stem, number of phylloclades, number of flowers, time for first flowering, and root length were measured. Data were analyzed using, analyzed by one-way ANOVA at α = 0.05 and Turkey pairwise comparison test using “R” software (version 4.2.2). Plants treated with 5% OLF showed significantly better growth metrics including mean height (6.760 ± 0.942 cm), width (2.013 ± 0.344 cm), number of phylloclades (12.33 ± 5.1) number of flowers (2.07 ± 0.99) and root length (7.061 ± 1.24 cm) while no significant differences were observed between the 15% OLF, 25% OLF, and CLF treatments. M. prolifera plants treated with 25% OLF recorded the lowest mean duration (15.3 ± 4.2 weeks) for the first flower formation due to the appropriate nutrient content for flowering. Based on the growth performance data, 5% OLF treatment significantly enhanced the growth of M. Prolifera plants. Hence, 5% OLF concentration can be considered as the optimum concentration for the growth enhancement of M. prolifera cactus.