INCREASING MINITUBER PRODUCTION IN AEROPONIC CULTURE

Three treatments,putting plant down,plant hormone and cutting tip,were investigated for their effect on minituber production in aeroponic culture by using a randomized complete block design.Cutting tips had a similar effect to the treatment of plant hormone CCC on the potato plant shape characters:leaf area index(LAI),plant height,and stem diameter,therefore plant hormone could be replaced by cutting tips.The effect of putting plant down was positive to promote potato root development,to change the buds into stolons,and to improve the production of minituber.The correlation analysis showed that there was significant positive correlation between LAI and average tubers per plant(r=0 8748 ** ),between the root volume and average tubers per plant(r=0 820 *),and between the root volume and stolons per plant(r=0 8770 ** )。