Abstract:
Mint ( spp) is an aromatic perennial herb. It belongs to the family Mentha
Lamiaceae due to the specific aroma which is popular in world. It's not cultivated
commercially in Northern part of Sri Lanka. The present experiment was conducted to
evaluate the suitability of dif erent rooting media and cutting lengths on growth and f
yield performance of Mint ( spp) at Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Mentha
Agriculture, Ariviyal Nagar, Kilinochchi during January to March 2019. Two factor
factorial experiment was carried out in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with
five replicates, where factor one was rooting media and factor two was cutting length.
Six potting media (cattle manure, compost, coir dust, partially burnt paddy husk, goat
manure and top soil) and four length of cuttings (6 cm, 9 cm, 12 cm, and 15 cm) were
used as treatment combinations. Weather, growth and yield parameters and chemical
properties were recorded and data were analyzed in ANOVA using SAS 9.1 package.
The means were compared by using Duncan Multiple Range Test. Management
practices were performed according to the farmer practices. Growth parameters such
as plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, branch number, root length and shoot
length, yield parameters such as fresh weight of shoot, fresh weight of root and number
of stolon) and chlorophyll content of the leaves were significantly dif erent among f
rooting media and cutting length. The highest plant height, leaf area, length of shoot,
fresh weight of shoot and number of stolon were recorded in the media contain goat
manure. Number of leaves, number of branches, root length, fresh weight of root and
chlorophyll content were highest in compost containing media. Compost and goat
manure containing media showed best performance and gave the highest yield.
Among these two media, goat manures gave more yield than compost containing
media. Fifteen centimeter length of cutting showed the best performance and gave the
highest yield. According to the results, it can be concluded, that 15 cm cutting planted
in goat manure containing media is best for mint growth and yield in pots.
