Influence of Micro-plant Hardening Methods on Aeroponic Potato Mini-tuber Production

For optimization of potato mini-tuber production through aeroponics, an experiment was conducted for the standardization of hardening methods for micro-plants in the aeroponic unit of Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, HP, India. Three hardening methods were used: planting in pro-trays, acclimatization (1 week) and direct transplanting. Early tuberization was recorded when the plants were hardened in pro-trays. However, percentage survivability, number of tubers per plant and number of harvests were significantly better when the micro-plants were hardened by gradually acclimatizing to the natural climatic conditions (1 week).