Effects of varieties and pot sizes on the early shoot and root growth of enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw) Cheesman)

Abstract

Enset, a perennial diploid plant from the Musaceae family, is a key crop in Ethiopia, supporting food, feed, and employment for over 25 million people. Despite the economic, social, and environmental importance of the crop, diseases like enset bacterial wilt pose a bottleneck for crop production and productivity. On the other hand, enset cultivation is started expanding to low-moisture area without basic information. Currently, experiments on enset diseases screening and stress conditions are being widely conducted using different pot size and enset varieties to overcome these issues. However, the absence of recommended pot sizes leads to use inappropriate pot sizes, affecting final results. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to determine the ideal pot size and stress-tolerant varieties by using three improved enset varieties and varying pot sizes. Results revealed significant effects of pot size on all traits and variety on most root, shoot, and corm traits tested. The interaction effect was significant only for some of the traits. Enset allocates more resources to root establishment in the first six months and then to vegetative growth. The crop can undergo normal growth for up to 10 months in small (7 L) and medium (23 L) pots and up to 14 months in large (34 L) pots without experiencing any stress. The variety Endale’s higher yield of dry corm in small pots and overall performance in pseudostem circumference may suggest resilience to stress conditions, as these are key yield determinant components. Further research is needed to validate these findings under field conditions.

Keywords

• Ensete ventricosum
• variety
• pot size
• shoot growth
• root growth
• corm attributes