EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT IRRIGATION REGIMES ON THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CALATHEA (CALATHEA MAKOYANE L.)

Irrigation is becoming increasingly important in areas where frequent drought incidence and seasonal rainfall is inadequate for crop production. On the other hand, water resources are becoming increasingly limited and can no longer satisfy the continuously increasing demand for irrigation water. The aim of this investigation was to determine the optimal moisture depletion level for the production of good quality calathea plants. Treatments used in the experiment included 75, 50, 40, and 30% allowable water depletion (AWD).The control was (50% AWD). A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used in this experiment with four replications. Irrigation the plants at 50% AWD resulted in the highest plant height (28.5 cm), leaf area (57.2 cm2) and number of leaves per plant (12.1) determined 12 weeks after potting (WAP). However, the highest root length (15.2 cm), shoot fresh mass (39.0 g), shoot dry mass (4.2 g), root fresh mass (19.4 g), and root dry mass (2.0 g), was obtained from plants irrigated at 75% AWD. The lowest plant height (24.7 cm), leaf area (49.0 cm2), root length (12.3 cm), shoot fresh mass (16.9 g), shoot dry mass (1.8 g), root fresh mass (7.6 g), and number of leaves (5.1) were recorded in plants irrigated at 30% AWD. Irrigating the plants at 30% AWD resulted in an almost 60% reduction in the number of leaves per plants as compared to irrigating at 50% AWD. An almost similar 60% reduction in root length, shoot fresh mass, shoot dry mass, and root fresh mass of calathea plants occurred when irrigation was reduced from 75 to 30% AWD. It was, therefore, recommended that farmers who are interested in growing calathea should irrigate them at 75% AWD to promote more vegetative growth