A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF COMPOSITION OF ARTIFICIAL SOILS ON SALVIA SPLENDENS GROWTH

Potted flower Salvia splendens is widely used for the public celebrations in China. An experiment on artificial soils consisting of humus, red soil and sand was carried out to study the effect of culture on the flower growth. The result showed that the ratio of humus, red soil and sand for best growth of Salvia splendens was 20:50:30 in volume, possessing higher water retaining capacity (moisture capacity was 27.89%) and higher air and water permeability (aeration porosity was about 50%) compared with control. The biomass of Salvia splendens cultivated with the soil suggested that the soil was excellent, the Salvia splendens bloomed much better than others and the soil proved to be an economical and efficient artificial one for the potted flower.