Data on the vegetative growth at post acclimatization stage of two dendrobium genotypes as an effect of different growing media

The growing medium is an important factor for plant growth and development. Many growing media are used for orchids, but their availability is limited and some are prohibitively expensive. Therefore, alternative growing media need to be studied. This study was conducted to investigate the potency of some alternative growing media for growing two Dendrobium genotypes, D. sylvanum and D. nindii x D. stratiotes, at the post-acclimatization stage. Five growing media were used in this experiment, namely tree fern fibers, coconut fibers, sphagnum moss, asplenium root, and calliandra humus.


Data
The data report the plant growth analysis of two dendrobium species as an effect of different of growing media. Several parameters related to micro-climate, plant growth (plant height, leaves length, leaves width, number of leaves, number of shoot) and physical properties of growing media (density, porosity, aeration porosity, water holding capacity, stability and pH) were measured. Data on microclimate data is presented in Fig. 1. Data on plant height, leaves length, leaves width, number of leaves, number of shoots are presented in Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, respectively. Table 1 shows physical properties of five different growing media.

Plant material and media preparation
Six months old of D. nindii x D. Stratiotes and D. sylvanum were used. Those orchids have the criteria of 4.8 cm in plant height, 7e8 of leaves number, and it has one shoot number. Five different growing media were used namely coconut chips, asplenium root, calliandra humus, tree fern and aphagnum moss that have been obtained from orchid Farmer in Lembang, Bandung, Indonesia. Tree fern, coconut chips and asplenium root were sterilized by boiled in 100 C for 5 min and then immersed in (Al 2 (SO 4 )3.24H 2 O) for 30 minutes to decrease tannin content as a toxicant. Sphagnum moss was immersed in water for 30 minutes and Calliandra humus was dried before usage. Orchids were removed and transferred from 5 cm pot in diameter to a new 10 cm pot in diameter with a new selected growing media. After that they were placed in green house of Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia from May 2018 to October 2018. HTC-2 digital thermohygrometer (HTC Instruments, India) was used to monitor temperature and humidity during experimental period according to Mubarok et al. [1]. Watering, fertilizing, pest and disease control were done during the experiment periods.

Measurement of physical properties of growing media
Density of growing media was calculated using the standard procedure described by Blake et al. [2] and Chapman [3]. Total porosity was measured by modifying the method described by Boyle Specifications Value of the data The data obtained here will contribute to our understanding of use of alternative growing media for orchid The data could be used for practitioner and as basic data of further research. The data has an additional value in choosing alterative growing media for orchid et al. [4], where the total porosity was calculated as the ratio of the volume of saturated medium water to the volume of growing media in percentage. Water holding capacity was calculated as the ratio of volume of the drained medium water volume to the volume of growing media in percentage, whereas aeration porosity was calculated as the difference between total porosity and water holding capacity [4].

Plant growth analysis
Plant growth assessments were measured at sixty weeks after replanting (WAP) before replanted to the bigger pots. Plant height (cm) was measured from the stem base to the tip of the highest leaves, and Leaf length (cm) was measured from the leaf base to the tip of the highest leaves. Leaves wide (cm) was measured on the widest leaf. Leaf number was counted from the accumulation of number of fully opened leaf. Shoot number was determined from the accumulation number of shoots in each plant.

Statistical data analysis
Completely randomized design with four replicates was used for this experiment. For statistical data analysis, data were tested for the normality followed by one factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to analyze the data followed by the Duncan's multiple range test at p < 0.05 to compare differences among the growing media.