1.3 EFFECT OF TILLER NUMBERS AT PLANTING ON GROWTH

The target is to improve materials for transplanting out earlier than 4 months in the nursery but still maintaining the same good root mass at the time of transplanting. This attempts to find out whether quality planting materials can be produced in a shorter time by using more tillers as starting material.

1. Trial 1

   This trial compares the use of 1, 3 or 5 tillers at the time of planting into polybags. Harvesting of plants were carried out at 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks after planting. On each occasion, 10 plants were randomly selected from each treatment, roots washed, photographed, the number of new tillers counted and the dry weights determined. The data are summarised in Table 1 and Figure 1. Readers are referred to the detailed discussions recorded in the video tape.

   Plants starting with 5 tillers have lower number of new tillers compared with those started with 3 tillers or 1 tiller. Besides it is difficult to get 5 tillers in a clump without resorting to usage of the more matured culms; and the older the materials, the slower they are at producing new groth. Therefore, to use 5 tillers will include using older culms which are not the best for use in the production of quality planting nursery. The usage of 5 tillers is also a wastage of materials with little advantage gained.

   Polybag plants with 1 tiller as starting material produces new tillers faster. This supports my earlier work that we should use good young active tillers for early growth.

   The amount of roots produced by polybags with starting material of 3 tillers have more root mass after 8 weeks than those of 1 tiller after 10 or 12 weeks. Where root system is concerned, 8 weeks with 3 tillers can easily substitute for 12 weeks with 1 tiller starting material.

2. Trial 2

   Polybag plants produced from 1 tiller and 3 tillers were planted into the ground. There was not much difference in plants started with 1 tiller compared with those from 3 tillers. However, those plants started with 3 tillers are more uniform than plants started with 1 tiller. On that score alone, it would be advisable to use 3 tillers as starting materials.

3. Trial 3

This compares the performance of polybag plants with bare root slips. Those slips with more than 5 tillers were faster growing than those with only 3 tillers, but even those started with more than 5 tillers have much less roots than container plants. For container plants there was not much difference in growth from those started with 3 tillers, compared with those started with 1 tiller, the reason being that these plants were left for 15 weeks in the nursery. The 3 tillers starting materials was more meant for 8 weeks nursery time when it would have gained an advantage over starting materials of 1 tiller.

TABLE 1 EFFECT OF TILLER NUMBERS AT PLANTING ON GROWTH AT VARIOUS WEEKS AFTER PLANTING

Means with same subscript alphabet are not significantly different at P<0.05