Effect of Different Substrates and Time of Application of Nutrient at Different Concentration on Growth Parameters of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

The aim of this study was to determine the combined effect of different substrates and time of application of nutrient at different concentration on growth parameters of Romaine long (green) lettuce. The experiment was conducted in semi-controlled naturally ventilated polyhouse for two years (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) during Rabi season at Department of Horticulture, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani (MH). The research was laid in a Factorial Completely Randomized Design, which is replicated twice with three factors i.e. Factor A) consisted different substrates (S) (S1: cocopeat, S2: cocopeat + perlite (1:1 v/v), S3: cocopeat + perlite (2:1 v/v) and S0: soil), Factor B) levels of nutrient concentration (F) (F1: 100%, F2: 80% and F3: 60%) and Factor C) application time interval (I) (I1: one day interval, I2: three days interval and I3: six days interval). The nursery raising of lettuce was done under greenhouse in pro-trays and seedling are ready for transplanting one month after sowing. The result revealed that combined application of treatment T6 [S2F1I2] i.e. Cocopeat + Perlite (1:1) + 100% + Three days interval recorded maximum plant height (28.24 cm) and number of inner leaves (18.50) whereas maximum number of outer leaves per plant (5.35) was recorded in the treatment combination of T1 [S1F1I1] i.e. Cocopeat + 100% + One day interval and T5 [S1F1I2] i.e. Cocopeat + 100% + Three days interval in pooled mean data at harvest. Further, the highest leaf area was (105.84 cm2) was observed in the treatment combination of T33 [S1F3I3] i.e. Cocopeat + 60% + Six days interval. The obtained result showed clear difference of lettuce growing under different substrates and time of application of nutrient at different concentration on growth parameters.