Effects of Irrigation Mat and Substrates on Watering Cycle, WaterRequirement, Growth and Quality of Potted Dwarf Marigold(Tagele patula L.)

The use of irrigation mat made from textile materials is a new research trend for hi-tech agriculture. This technology has been using in developed countries such as Germany and the Netherlands. This paper summarized the study results on the effects of irrigation mat KT2 and three types of substrates on the watering cycle, the required amount of water, the growth and quality of dwarf marigold. The study composed of three experiments. The experiments were conducted with six treatments using the random complete block (RCB) design in the nethouse from January to June 2011. The experimental results indicated the following advantages of using irrigation mats: limitation of water loss, an appropriate water amount based on the demand of plant, long moisture retention of the substrates, extended watering cycle, and reduced water requirement and labor as compared with control treatment (no irrigation mats). Growing the plants using the substrate No.3 (alluvial soil, cattle manure, sooked rice husk and coconut fiber with the ratio 1.5:1:1:0.5) in combination with irrigation mat and normal irrigation methods gave better results than the substrate number 1 (alluvial soil) and 2 (alluvial soil, cattle manure and burning rice husk with the ratio 3:1:1).