Abstract:
The regeneration of leek plant from rootstock (leek bulb) was tested using Aloe vera
gel and banana peels as natural growth stimulants. This experiment was carried out in
the Faculty of Technology of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka. The treatments were
arranged in randomized complete design (CRD) with six replicates. In this experiment,
6 treatments were made with different percentages of natural growth stimulants, they
are T1- Control treatments (Water), T2 - I0% Aloe vera gel solutions, T3 - 20o/o Aloe
vera gel solutions, T4 - l0% Banana peel solutions, T5 -20% Banana peel solutions,
T6 - I0% Aloe vera gel + I0o/o Banana peel solutions. During the time immersed in
the hormone solution, stem length, number of newly formed roots, root length and
after planting in the soil, number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, stem height and
after harvesting, fresh weight of roots, fresh weight of stem and fresh weight of leaves,
number of roots and dry weight of roots, dry weight of stem and dry weight of leaves
after drying in direct sunlight for three days are among the parameters measured. The
results showed that Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences between
treatments for all evaluation parameters (P<0.05). T6 treatments had the highest stem
length (9.12*0.38 cm), number of roots (14.33*0.72), and root length (1.68+0.14cm)
values when immersed in hormone solutions. In addition, T5 and T3 treatments also
showed significant growth. After planting in the soil, the number of leaves
(9.33+0.42), leaf length (60.05+2.10 cm) and width (3.02+0.21cm), and stem height
(7I.23+2.14cm) were measured in the T6 treatment, which showed the highest growth
rate, and in addition, the T5, T3,T4 andT2 treatments showed a significant growth
pattem. The lowest growth rate was noted in T1. Even after harvesting, T6 treatment
showed the highest grorryth in fresh weight of leaves (34.83+1.51 g), fresh weight of
stems (22.95+0.91 g),freshweightofroots (3.75+0.37 g)andnumberofnewlyformed
roots (92.67L5.04), while T3 and T5 treatments were second in terms of growth rate.
When examining dry weight of roots (1.50+0.12 g), dry weight of stem (3.55+0.04 g),
and dry weight of leaves (7 .70t0.48 g), T6 treatments had the highest weight, followed
by T5, T3,T4, andT2 treatments in that order. Overall findings of the study showed
that l)Yo Aloe vera gel + I}Yo Banana peel solutions (T6 treatment) was most
successful in regenerating leek plants from leek bulbs and improving growth metrics
of leek plants in sandy regosol.
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