Effect of Various Potting Media on Growth Characteristics of Phalsa Cuttings (Grewia subinaequalis L.)

AbstractPhalsa (Grewia subinaequalis), belonging to the Tiliaceae family, is a bushy plant adapted to the arid and semi-arid regions of India. Known for its hardiness, it thrives in diverse soil and climatic conditions where other fruit crops often fail. Phalsa fruits are valued for their exceptional medicinal and nutritional properties. Although traditionally propagated by seeds in India, the rapid loss of seed viability has made vegetative propagation a more reliable method, ensuring true-to- type plants and simplifying cultivation. An experiment conducted by the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, evaluated the impact of different potting media on the growth characteristics of phalsa cuttings. The study was arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Results showed that hardwood cuttings planted in a mixture of Soil + Farmyard Manure (1:1) exhibited superior performance, with the shortest number of days taken for sprouting (10.21), highest number of sprouts per cutting (6.60), number of leaves per cutting (8.74), leaf area per cutting (15.08 cm 2 ), length of longest root per rooted cutting (18.51 cm), survival percentage of rooted cuttings (70.78%), fresh weight of the roots (3.22 g) and dry weight of the roots (0.95 g).