Suitable Planting Materials and Nutrient Concentrations for Investigating Sugarcanes under Hydroponic System

Chanoknat Chapae, Patcharin Songsri, Wanwipa Kaewpradit, Nuntawoot Jongrungklang and Santimaitree Gonkhamdee

Background and Objective: Usage of hydroponics on sugarcane has been very limited. Several aspects are considerations for sugarcane growing in hydroponics, namely plant material and nutrient concentration. Therefore, the objectives of this investigation were to (1) Determine a suitable planting material of sugarcane seedlings before transplanting into hydroponic cultivation and (2) Define an appropriate fertilizer concentration for cultivating sugarcane for optimum growth in hydroponics. Materials and Methods: This study was divided into 2 sub-experiments. Planting material and hydroponic tests used split plots in a randomised complete block design. For the planting material test, 3 planting materials, namely perlite, sand and filter cake, were assigned as main plots and 6 elite sugarcane lines were sub-plot treatments. In another experiment, nutrient concentrations (N 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) were the main plots and the sub-plots were 4 sugarcane genotypes. Root and shoot traits were measured in 2 trials. Results: Filter cake was determined a suitable planting material for sugarcane seedlings before transplanting into hydroponic cultivation, due to it having sufficient nutrients. The N2 nutrient level is able to provide a good performance on above ground growth and it seems likely to be the optimum conditions for root traits, but there were variations among genotypes. Conclusion: Filter cake and N2 nutrient level were an appropriate for investigating sugarcane in hydroponics.

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