Abstract:
Commercially produced succulent plants are increasingly becoming popular among plant
collectors, landscapers, and interior designers, and therefore, it is necessary to enhance
their propagation methods for the sustainability of the export market of ornamental
plants. An experiment was conducted at agriculture research station, in the Gampaha
District from December 2020 to March 2021 to evaluate the propagation rate of the
different succulent species in different potting mixtures. In this experiment, leaf cuttings
of five succulent species (Echeveria gibbiflora, Echeveria elegans, Graptopetalum
paraguayense, Pachyveria glauca and Sempervivum redlion) were grown in four types
potting mixtures (Treatment1- Soil, Sand, Gravel and Perlite (2:2:1:2), Treatment 2-
Soil, Sand, Gravel and Coir dust (2:2:1:2), Treatment 3- Soil, Sand, Gravel and Charcoal
(2:2:1:2) and Treatment 4-Soil, Sand, Gravel and Styrophorm (2:2:1:2). T1 was used
as control. The experiment was laid out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD)
with three replications. The leaf cuttings were kept in Shade house. The data were assessed
through ANOVA tests using SAS computer software package. The results showed
that the growth performance of Echeveria elegans and Graptopetalum paraguayens was
higher in the Treatment 1(control), Echeveria gibbiflora and Sempervivum redlion were
performed well in Treatment 2 while Pachyveria glauca was highly performed in the
Treatment 3. The result implies that growth and propagation efficiency of different
succulent species may vary with the growing media. It was recommended that farmers
should adapt the propagation of mentioned succulent species with suitable growing
media to get higher propagation rate and increased productivity to fulfill the demand
for succulent for export market.
