Effects of Different Substrate Composition on Growth of Gesneriaceae Plants

The cultivation experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of different proportions of peat soil, perlite, vermiculite and yellow mud on growth of Gesneriaceae species(Chirita gueilinensis, Sinningia speciosa, Lysionotus pauciflorus, Hemiboea henryi, Aeschynanthus acuminatus, Saintpaulia ionantha). The growth traits of each plant growing in 7 different matrix materials were investigated.The plant height, crown width and chlorophyll content of each plant were measured. The results showed that the best substrate ratio was peat soil∶vermiculite=2∶1for C. gueilinensis, L. pauciflorus and H. henryi; peat soil∶perlite∶vermiculite = 2∶1∶1for S. ionantha; peat soil∶vermiculite∶yellow mud=2∶1∶1 for S. speciosa; peat soil∶perlite∶vermiculite∶yellow mud=2∶1∶1∶1 for A. acuminatus.