DOI: 10.36347/sjavs.2020.v07i05.004

Pages: 101-106

An assessment under shade house condition was conducted to identify the effects of graded potassium levels on vegetative growth of cordyline (Cordyline fruticosa var. ‘purple compacta’) plants in the Eastern region, Sri Lanka for a period of 4 months from January to April 2019 and investigation was a completely randomized design with twenty replications per treatment. Six treatments included 0.0 (Control), 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 g of potassium/plant/month (g/p/m). Muriate of potash was used as a potassium source. Nitrogen (Urea) and Phosphorous (TSP) were applied at the recommended and fixed rates of 0.5 g/plant/month and 0.5g/plant/month respectively. Recommended agronomic practices were followed uniformly for all treatments. Growth parameters viz. plant height, leaf area, plant biomass and leaf nitrogen content (SPAD) were measured at monthly interval. Analysis of Variance was performed to determine significant difference among treatments (p < 0.05). Results revealed that plants applied with T2 showed significantly (p < 0.05) better performance than the other treatments in the measured growth parameters viz. plant height, leaf area, plant biomass and leaf nitrogen content. The results indicated that potassium level of 0.5 g/p/m could be the most appropriate to maximize the growth of cordyline (Cordyline fruticosa var. ‘purple compacta’) among the treatments used in this investigation under 50% shade condition.