IMPACT OF DIFFERENT SOIL MIXTURES ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF RED AMARANTH FOR ROOFTOP GARDENING

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted at the Soil Science laboratory-2 of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur during the period of September 2023 to November 2023. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of different soil mixture combinations on the growth and yield of red amaranth. Seven (7) different treatments were: T1 = control (only soil), T2 = 50% soil + 40% vermicompost (VC) + 5% sand + 5% sawdust + 2.0 g kg-1 bone meal powder ,T3 = 45% soil + 45% VC + 5% sand + 5% sawdust + 1.5 g kg-1 bone meal powder ,T4 = 45% soil + 40% VC + 5% sand + 10% sawdust + 1.5 g kg 1bone meal powder ,T5 = 40% soil + 40% VC + 15% sand + 5% sawdust + 2.0 g kg-1 bone meal powder ,T6 = 35% soil + 50% VC + 10% sand + 5% sawdust + 1.0 g kg-1 bone meal powder ,T7 = 35% soil + 50% VC + 5% sand + 10% sawdust + 1.0 g kg-1 bone meal powder. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. The soil was sandy loam and the pH, organic matter, total N, available P, exchangeable K and available S were 6.44, 0.64%, 0.014%, 23.72 ppm, 0.128 meq 100g-1 soil and 13.81ppm, respectively. The results showed that the treatment T7 had the highest growth and yield such as plant height (7.67, 20.77, and 51.94 cm at 25, 40, and 55 DAS, respectively), number of leaves per plant (4.74, 9.45, and 19.33 at 25, 40, and 55 DAS, respectively), fresh weight per plant (25.77 g) and total fresh weight per pot (644.25 g). On the other hand, T1 treatment (only soil) had the lowest values of growth and yield characters of red amaranth. In post-harvest soil, different soil mixture combination also had an impact on OM, total N, available P, exchangeable K, and available S content. Therefore, the study reveals that the treatment T7, i.e., application of 35% soil, 50% VC, 5% sand, 10% sawdust, and 1.0 g kg-1 bone meal powder in a mixture combination might be an efficient practice for red amaranth production in urban rooftop.