Effect of media type on growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum l.) varieties apical rooted cuttings in Kenya

Soil is the main platform for pest and disease infections to spread, resulting in significant loss of yield and deteriorate tuber quality of seed potato over seasons. To address soil borne virus diseases, a media type has been introduced for producing healthy seed tuber-based on in vitro rapid multiplication of virus-free planting material. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of media type on growth of potato varieties apical rooted cuttings. A greenhouse study was carried out where five media types; coco-peat + perlite, sand, coco-peat + pumice, coco-peat+ vermiculite and soil were tested along with three local potato varieties (Shangi, Unica and Wanjiku). The study was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a 3×5 factorial arrangement.. Data collected was subjected to general linear model (GLM) to partition the variance component using SAS software version 9.0 and means separated using Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference Test (HSD) at P ≤ 0.05. The interaction between varieties by media type had a significant effect on the number of tubers per plant. Plant height of 53cm was recorded under coco-peat + perlite mixture. Highest shoot fresh weight was recorded on shangi (24.86g) cultivated on coco-peat + pumice mixture, followed by unica and wanjiku (24.64 and 21.17g, respectively) cultivated on coco-peat + perlite mixture. The study has provided valuable information on media type and the role it plays in increasing productivity of seed tuber in perspective of commonly used local varieties in Kenya. Keywords: Aprical rooted cutting, media type, seed tubers, Solanum tuberosum