The growing of taro Colocasia esculenta Var. Antiquorum plantlet in several media during acclimatization stage
M Tuwo1, E Tambaru1

1Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, South Sulawesi, 90245

Abstract

Japanese taro or satoimo Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott var. Antiquorum, is widely consumed in Japan thus increasing exports. Plant seedlings can be obtained in large quantities and in a relatively short time through the propagation method of plant tissue culture. Final stage of plant tissue culture is acclimatization. Growing media and planting techniques are important factors in the acclimatization process. The ideal planting medium can be obtained from a combination of organic and inorganic materials. This study aims to obtain optimal acclimatization media for the growth of taro plants. The planting material used 24 weeks old taro plantlets. The plantlets were washed with tap water and soaked in distilled water + fungicide and washed with sterile water. The plantlets were planting in plastic cups with the different substrate mixture namely (P1): Soil: Manure: Rice Husks (1:1:1)- (P2) Soil: Manure: Cocopeat (1:1:2)- (P3) Rice Husk: Sand (1:1)- (P4) Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) Hydroponics System. They were watered daily and fertilized. Survival percentage, plantlet height and number of leaves were recorded for 12 weeks. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and if there is a significant effect of treatment, a further test of the least significant difference (LSD) is carried out. The optimal acclimatization medium for acclimatization was obtained in (P1) Soil: Manure: Rice Husks (1:1:1) treatment with a percentage of survival of 62% with an average plant height and number of leaves 13.3 cm and 4.6 respectively.

Keywords: acclimatization, cocopeat, NFT system, rice husk, satoimo

Topic: Plant Breeding and Biotechnology