Effect of different soilless growing media on the growth and yield of cabbage under controlled conditions

The soilless culture system in a controlled environment is crucial for enhancing crop productivity. Cabbage is one of the crops that can be successfully cultivated in soilless media within protected house conditions by optimizing climatic conditions. This study was conducted in a protected house at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, with the aim of evaluating the impact of various non-soil growing media on the growth and yield of cabbage in a controlled environment. The experiment followed a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replicates. Three types of growing media were used as treatments: coir dust alone, sand alone, and a 1:1 mixture of coir dust and sand. Growth and yield parameters were measured. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, with mean separation was performed using the Least Significant Difference test at 5% probability level. Results indicated that plant height, canopy diameter, total biomass yield, head weight, and head perimeter of cabbage plants were significantly influenced by the growing media. Coir dust alone and a 1:1 coir dust: sand mixture resulted in significantly higher values for plant height, canopy diameter, and head perimeter compared to sand alone. Additionally, coir dust alone produced significantly greater cabbage head weight than sand alone. However, the head weight and total biomass yield for cabbage grown in coir dust alone did not significantly differ from those grown in the 1:1 coir dust: sand mixture. Therefore, cabbage can be successfully cultivated in either coir dust alone or a 1:1 coir dust: sand mixture under controlled environmental conditions in soilless culture systems.