GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF TISSUE-CULTURED ´LAKATAN´ BANANA (MUSA ACUMINATA) PLANTLETS USING STIMULANTS

The study aimed to determine the effects of stimulants on the growth performance of tissue-cultured 'lakatan' banana plantlets (Musa acuminata) under nursery condition; to determine the best treatment combination that will increase the growth performance of tissue-cultured 'lakatan' banana plantlets; and to determine the economic benefits of using stimulants in tissue-cultured 'lakatan' banana plantlets. The study was laid out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with seven treatments and replicated thrice with eight samples per replicate. The treatments were; T1- Control (No Application); T2- Conventional Practice (CP) (5 grams N-PK every 15 days); T3- Bio-Forge (5 ml/ liter water foliar application); T4- CP + Bio-Forge (0.125 grams of N-P-K + 5 ml of Bio-Forge/ liter water); T5- CP + Stimulate (5 grams of N-P-K + 10 ml of Stimulate/ liter water); T6- Bio-Forge + Stimulate (5 ml of Bio-Forge/ L. of water + 10 ml of Stimulate/liter water); T7- CP+ Bio-Forge+ Stimulate (5 grams of N-P-K + 5 ml of Bio-Forge/ liter water + 10 ml of Stimulate/ liter water). All data were analyzed through Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and differences among treatments were computed using Honest Significant (HSD) test. The results of the study revealed that the percentage of survival and pseudostem diameter at 15 Days after planting (DAP) was not significantly affected by different treatments. Plant height, length of leaves, width of leaves, pseudostem diameter (30 & 45), number of leaves, root length and number, fresh and dry weights at 15, 30 and 45 DAP have significant effects. The T7 - (Conventional Practice + Bio-Forge + Stimulate) significantly increased plant height by 7 times, width of leaves by 3 times, stem diameter by 6 times, root number by 3 times, fresh weight by 17 times which were comparable with T6- (Bio-Forge + Stimulate), T5- (CP + Stimulate), T4- (CP + Bio-Forge) and T3- (BioForge). The T3 (Bio-Forge) had the highest leaf length increase by 10 times, root length by 100% which is comparable to T5- (CP + Stimulate), T6- (CP + Stimulate) and T7- (CP + Bio-Forge + Stimulate). While T4- (CP + Bio-Forge) had the heaviest dry weight by 28 times which is also comparable to T3 (Bio-Forge), T5 (CP + Stimulate), T6 (Bio-Forge + Stimulate) and T7- (CP + Bio-Forge + Stimulate).