Morphological and physiological performance of petunia (Petunia hybrida) cultivated in a growth substrate derived from Tehran pine (Pinus eldarica) cone peat

Petunia is a widely cultivated ornamental plant whose growth and flowering performance are strongly affected by the physical and chemical properties of the growing substrate. Increasing costs and limited availability of cocopeat have encouraged the use of low-cost, locally available alternatives. This study investigated the morphological and physiological responses of petunia grown in Tehran pine cone–based peat (Pinus eldarica) compared with cocopeat. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with two substrate treatments, perlite–cocopeat and perlite–pine cone peat, with three replications. Plant height, flower number and diameter, flowering time, shoot and root biomass, leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, total soluble sugars, and petal anthocyanin concentration were evaluated. The results showed that the pine cone peat–perlite mixture increased flower number by ۸۵.۷% and significantly enhanced leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid contents by ۴۵.۴% and ۲۵.۵%, respectively, while cocopeat promoted higher accumulation of soluble sugars. Overall, composted P. eldarica cone peat appears to be a sustainable and economically viable alternative to cocopeat for petunia production.

کلیدواژه ها:

growth substrate ، pine cone peat ، Cocopeat ، ornamental quality ، Chlorophyll