INFLUENCE OF GROWING MEDIA AND VARIETIES ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF MOKARA IN TAM KY, QUANG NAM PROVINCE
Abstract: Mokara Orchid is a trigeneric hybrid between the Ascocentrum, Vanda and Arachnis Orchids and was created in Singapore in 1969. Mokara is now popularly grown in Vietnam; however, research on variety or growing medium for Mokara orchid in Quang Nam has not been reported yet. The objective of this study is to identify adapted Moraka varieties and suitable growing media for the cultivation of Mokara orchids under the local conditions. The experiment was conducted from June 2016 to December 2017 at Truong Xuan Ward, Tam Ky City, Quang Nam province using a subplot design, where the growing medium is the main plot and Mokara orchid varietyis the split-plot. The experiment includes three Mokara varieties belonging to genus Mokara with 3 colors: yellow, lime, and pink spotand four growing media with different ratios of peanut shell, charcoal, and coir. The results show that the growing media significantly affect the plant height and flower yield, but they do not affect the leaf number, leaf length, leaf width, root number, and flower quality of the Mokara varieties. The varieties affect the growth and development, flower quality, and yield of Mokara. Using the same media, the pink spot Mokara variety gains the best growth and development, and the yellow Mokara variety provides the highest yield. These Mokara varieties gain the best flower quality. The growing medium with 50% coir and 50% peanut shell can be used to plant yellow Mokara (or pink spot Mokara) under the local conditions.Keywords: Mokara orchid varieties, growing medium, coir, peanut shell, yellow Mokara, pink spot Mokara