IJROWA Volume 12 Issue 1 Pages 73-

International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture (2023)12: 73-84 Doi: 10.30486/IJROWA.2022.1929440.1239 ORIGINAL RESEARCH Coconut coir dust as a waste on growth of Pothos (Scindapsus aureum L.) Fatemeh Bidarnamani*, Mohammad Ali Karimian, Bahman Fazelinasab, Zeinab Mohkami Received: 03 July 2021 / Accepted: 26 February 2022 / Published online: 20 July 2022 Abstract Purpose Coir dust was utilized to manufacture soilless mixture for ornamental plant reproduction. Coconut coir provides more air and moisture to the root zone. Growing medium with coir does not shrink from container walls upon drying. Method This study was performed in a greenhouse, Institute of Agricultural Research, University of Zabol during 2019-2020; the experiment carried out on a completely randomized design with 4 treatments, 8 months of measuring and 3 replications. Treatments had contained equal volume ratio of coco peat+ rice hull; coco peat + spent mushroom compost, cocopeat + leaf mold, coco peat + perlite. Measurable factors like plant height, stem diameter, number of new leaves, fresh and dry weight of leaves and the amount of chlorophyll were assessed for comparison of pothos growth, and finally plants had compared as stated by their general form and morphology too. Characteristics were analyzed with SPSS software and mean comparisons were represented by Duncan test in P≤ 0.05. Results The findings showed that the variables such as substrate, months of measuring and their interplays had significant effects on all factors (except stem diameter). Mainly, media containing leaf-mold characteristics such as plant height, leaf number and leaf area were better than the others. The results of cocopeat + spent mushroom compost were nearly similar to cocopeat + leaf-mold, but two other media didn’t show good growth after 8 months. On the other hand, growth rate of the plants improved by warming the air from autumn to summer and the most growth rate were related to July. Keywords Cocopeat, Rice hull, Leaf compost, Mushroom compost, Perlite, Growing media Introduction more significance of another method of soil agriculture because of application of pollutant source (Levy Scindapsus aureus (Pothos) is discussed as the easiest and Taylor 2003). The growth of plants such as orna- plant of all household plants. It belongs to Araceae mental plants are related to many parameters. The im- family. This plant is tolerant to low light situations portance of potted culture mixture's quality is more (Saffari et al. 2013). Danger of environmental pollu- than soil media because they have more limited space. tion, exclusively soil and groundwater has caused Humidity, aeration and organic matter of the soilless mixture were the three parameters that affected devel-  Fatemeh Bidarnamani [email protected] opment and blooming of gardenia plants. (Al-Menaie Agriculture Institute, Research Institute of Zabol, Iran et al. 2008). The effect of different compositions of Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 potting substrate having leaf compost or poultry ma- Obvious differences in morphological traits were rec- nure as the principal sources on the nutrient uptake ef- orded among traditional substrates with considerable ficiency of pothos has been emphasized. There is an superiority of flower quality and plant growth. The re- enormous possibility for using the waste material ef- sults of this study showed that treatment containing ficiently for propagation of ornamental plants (Iftikhar silt, coconut coir and top soil had the highest Gerbera and Qasim 2003). As a good soilless culture, cocopeat plants, while combination of silt, Lahore compost and has a good pH, Electrical conductivity and chemical top soil exhibit the most number of leaves per plant elements, however its content of water is great that and maximum flower stalk thickness (Riaz et al. causes the poor air-water connection to be increased, 2015). The use of fertilizers, especially vermin-com- and it leads to low aeration within the mixture. There- post not only improved the growth of pothos with 10% fore, it affects the distribution of oxygen to the roots. of soil, but also enhanced all growth parameters. The Addition of larger media into cocopeat improves the effect of granular sulfur compost on the number of aeration condition of the media (Awang et al. 2009). new leaves in pothos plant was much more than ver- Coconut coir dust is a substrate which is more appro- min-compost (Saffari et al. 2013).Younis et al. (2010) priate than oil palm empty fruit bunch. Although the concluded that mixture of sand: silt: leaf compost: primary EC content of coconut coir dust was high, no spent compost (1:1:1:1) was the best mixture for prop- sign of growth delay in hybrid cauliflower plant was agation of croton plants followed by sand: silt: leaf observed. Under these situations, plant's dry weight compost: spent compost (oyster) (1:1:1:1). Through and total leaf area were twice in plants grown in co- the compilation of burnt rice hull, we can enhance copeat compared to those grown in oil palm empty some chemical and physical attributes of cocopeat, fruit bunch (Asiah et al. 2004). Larger materials such and its positive effect was intelligibly reflected in the as rice hull, kenaf core fiber and perlite can be used to growth and development of Celosia cristata (Awang increase the air-water relationship of cocopeat (Tsa- et al. 2009). A few studies have been reported on the kaldimi 2006; Sambo et al. 2008). The surface of a effect of different substrates on pothos. The important coir-based potted media will become dry more rapidly point here is to introduce the suitable substrates for than the root zone. Greenhouse's owner must be care- better growth of pothos plants, however, the wide ap- ful not to overwater the ornamental plants in a peat- plication of the ornamental plants is the crucial point, coir growing medium. The factors related to the quick because the results of this study and similar researches drying will often help us to solve the problems of crop not only help the producer to detect a suitable medium growth resulting from overwatering, especially in cold for better growth in the shortest time, but also they climates with high humidity or cloudy conditions help the consumers such as housewives to choose the (Londra et al. 2018). In a research, Dede et al. (2010) most appropriate media for their plants. On the other concluded that the most appropriate mixture for hand, the use of recycling materials as a substrate for ligustrum was the mixture containing poultry ferti- ornamental plants is not only beneficial for the envi- lizer, whereas bio-solid is the most suitable mixture ronment, but the fruit fibers can be used as a substrate for cypress, irrespective of the main ingredients. The in most homes after consuming fruits such as coconut media containing 3:1 leaf mold/coconut coir dust had that it is also economically justifiable. The purpose of the higher number of leaves in pothos growth, but the this study was to estimate different growing substrates number of shoot was better in the same ratio of leaf- and the effect of other substrates combined with co- mold: sand mixture (Khayyat et al. 2007). copeat on the characteristics of growth of popular indoor plants, golden pothos, so the best and suitable 74 Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 combination is introduced for the owner of green- and morphological evaluation at the end of the exper- house for economical and faster production of pothos. iment by Amerin method (Amerin et al. 1965). For visual grading of plants, four characteristics were Material and methods evaluated for photos plants such as: plant height, appearance color of leaves, uniformity in leaf growth The present research was carried out in a greenhouse and size of leaves, and each characteristic was given in Institute of Agricultural Research, University of 2.5 scores. Then the addition of the scores were deter- Zabol, Iran country, from December until July during mined, and the treatments were compared to deter- 2019-2020. The experiment design was a completely mine the best (10 scores) and worst (3 scores) scores randomized design with 4 treatments, 8 months of of different substrates in terms of appearance. Twenty measuring and 3 replications. Various substrates con- people were asked to rate the above characteristics in sisted of M1: cocopeat+ rice hull; M2: cocopeat+ spent terms of appearance, the average score was considered mushroom compost, M3: cocopeat+ leaf mold, M4: co- for each characteristic. Collected data was analyzed copeat+ perlite. All mixtures were prepared according by SPSS software in p value of 0.05 (P≤0.05) and to volume ratio rather than weight (v/v). The plastic mean comparisons were performed by Duncan test be- pots with the height of 25 cm and head's diameter of tween different treatments. 21 cm were filled by handy mixtures. Also, rice hull was used in the bottom of all pots for better drainage Result and discussion due to its weightless rather than gravel. 3 pothos plantlets of uniform growth were transplanted in each pot. The measurement of temperature in the greenhouse Some morphological characteristics like: the height of showed that the minimum temperature was 7 ºC in pothos plant, stem diameter, number of new leaves, cool months, and it increased to 12-14 ºC after using fresh and dry weight of leaves and chlorophyll amount of heater in autumn and winter, but after winter, be- were evaluated for estimation of pothos growth, and cause of warm weather, the minimum temperatures finally treatments were compared following their gen- were 17 ºC and 25 ºC in spring and summer respec- eral observable outward (given them a score of 1 to 10 tively. The amount of humidity was retained 30-40% which 10 was the best). During the study, no fertilizer in greenhouse in all months comparatively. Some nu- or nutrient materials were used. Irrigation and mist trient elements were determined by soil analysis in the were carried out handy and uniformly. The plants used substrates as follows by (Table 1). Analysis of were irrigated each 10 days in cool months and each potted substrates indicated that substrates with low nu- 4-7 days in warm months. The pH of the potting mix- trients, organic substance and water-holding capaci- tures were determined using a double distilled water ties, can be improved by different organic materials suspension in all of substrates in the ratio of 1:10 (w:v) with various compositions at different ratios (Younis (Inbar et al. 1993) that had been shaken automatically et al. 2010). This means, for example, adding the sub- for 2 h and filtered through Whatman no.1 filter paper. strates with desirable aeration such as cocopeat or per- The same solution was prepared to measure Electrical lite to heavy substrates such as soil or loam can im- Conductivity (EC) with a conductance meter that had prove soil aeration, and it may lead to better growth of been standardized with 0.01 and 0.1 M KCl (the irri- the plants. Also, substrates with low nutrients can be gation water test showed pH: 6.55 and EC: 642 used to improve the growth of plant by adding ferti- μs/cm). It was given a mark to each plant for grading lizer or substrates containing nutrients with suitable concentration. 75 Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 Table 1 Results of analysis of main elements in the used substrates Media N Mg K P Fe % Mgkg1- Mg.kg1- Mg.kg1- Mg.kg1- Perlite 0.039 140 182 11 4.4 Leaf 1.69 360 528 21 16.44 2.04 160 671 190 23.04 Cocopeat 3.04 880 917 21 42.88 Mushroom compost 1.11 680 880 250 2.64 mold Rice husk Interaction effect of media and time on pothos' length Plant height in 8 measurement times showed that cocopeat+ leaf compost was the best media, whiles cocopeat+ rice cant effect of media, months of measuring and their hull and cocopeat+ perlite were the worst substrates, interactions on pothos. and their difference was not significant (Fig. 1). The height of pothos (cm) Analysis of data in this research showed the signifi- 250 200 150 cocopeat+rice hull 100 cocopeat+mushroom compost 50 cocopeat+leaf compost 0 cocopeat+perlite Media and time treatment Fig. 1 The height of pothos in different media and months of measuring Effect of media on pothos' height revealed that co- (cocopeat) had the most nitrogen content than the oth- copeat+ leaf mold (a significant word) and cocopeat+ ers. In additive substrates, there were the most amount spent mushroom (b significant word) substrates had of nitrogen in rice hull, leaf compost, spent mushroom the most growth of length; while cocopeat+ rice hull compost and perlite, respectively. But plant growth's and cocopeat+ perlite (c significant word) were the diagram showed that the rice hull doesn't have a good worst media (Fig. 2). Mean comparisons among dif- effect on plant's height, whereas plants had maximum ferent treatments were displayed according to the sig- length in leaf mold and mushroom compost substrate nificant word on diagram. Addition of leaf compost to when mixing with cocopeat. Perhaps its reason had cocopeat had more significant effects on the height of been due to antagonistic behavior of the mixture of plants, and then on the mushroom compost. rice hull and cocopeat or inaccessibility of high levels There were no significant differences in height be- of N for pothos plants. tween two other substrates. Fixed media in this trial 76 The height of plant (cm) Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 a 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 b c c Various media Fig.2 The height of pothos in different media containing cocopeat Effect of measuring time on pothos' height was signif- (Malaysia, Indonesia) and New Guinea (Abd-El-Hadi icant. The diagram shows that the additive amount of and Shanan 2010), so it is clear that it had slight height was ascending from December 2019 until July growth in cool seasons but after April, plants' length 2020 (Fig. 3). But its amount was low in first stages increased quickly after the weather grew warm, and (t1-t4). In four final stages, the length of plants in- the greenhouse became lighter and sunny; insofar ss creases quickly, as the weather grows warm in April. the plants' length increased nearly 116 cm just in July The reason of this theorem is clear, because the pothos month. is an arid and Semi-tropic native to southeastern Asia The height of pothos (cm) a 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 b d d d cd cd c Different measuring months Fig. 3 The height of pothos in different months from autumn until summer t1: December; t2: January; t3: February; t4: March; t5: April; t6: May; t7: June; t8: July compost and cocopeat + spent mushroom compost had Leaf number the most numbers of new leaves than others (Fig. 4). Statistical analysis showed that the interactions of me- The new numbers of leaves are added to all of sub- dia and time of measuring had significant effect on strates' mixtures, and it was caused by increasing the leaf number of pothos plant. After 8 months, it was air temperature. revealed that the media containing cocopeat + leaf 77 Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 New leaf number 25 20 15 cocopeat+rice hull 10 cocopeat+mushroom compost 5 cocopeat+leaf compost 0 cocopeat+perlite Media and time treatment Fig. 4 Interaction of media and months on new leaf number of pothos Content of nitrogen in Soil analyses showed that rice branches. At the end of experiment, root development husk had the most content of nitrogen following the was very good in media containing rice husk, whiles leaf mold, spent mushroom compost and perlite, re- media containing leaf-mold had lower root growth spectively, but according to diagram, M3 substrate than rice husk. According to the result of this experi- was better than M2, M4, and M1. So, rice husk ment, Khayyat et al. (2007) discussed that high leaf couldn’t use its high nitrogen for growth, or perhaps growth was observed in media including leaf compost, nitrogen of this media was inaccessible via drainage although root development was slight. Since the only (Fig. 5). Presumably cohesion of ingredients in M3 reason for these events was not the differences in the and M2 causes less drainage, Thus, pothos plant could water-air relationship with different rooting sub- apply essential elements for its better growth and pro- strates, other parameters are probably involved. Root duction of more numbers of new leaves on its information can limited by decreased porosity. New leaf number b 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 a c c Fig. 5 Effect of additive substrate to cocopeat on new leaf number of pothos Various media Statistical analyses (Table 2) showed the significant first four stages, the number of leaves appeared on the effect of measuring times on the numbers of new plants was few. This phenomenon is due to gradual leaves (Fig. 6). The effect of t1 and t2, t2 and t3 and t4, warming from December 2019 until July 2020. More t4 and t5 wasn't significant, but this effect was remark- sunshine causes more photosynthesis gradually, thus able among other times. The results obtained at the growing more numbers of new leaves is believable af- end of this experiment showed that the number of new ter winter. Two consecutive months had not signifi- leaves was notably in four final stages; while in the cant differences together in cold months because of 78 Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 slow growth rate, while after the weather getting warm plants and according to the result of this research, the in spring and summer, significant differences were ob- highest output of growing characteristics was in the served between treatments by enhancing the growth warm months of the year and the growth rate gradually rate with increasing the length and the number of new increased by enhancing of the air temperature in the leaves. Due to the tropical origin of Scindapsus aureus greenhouse. Table 2 Statistical analysis (mean comparisons) in different treatments and measured factors Measured traits Plant Source height Stem number diameter index ** ns 246.2 (1.43×108)** 159.8 1266.8 Chlorophyll Leaf area Substrate 12691.6 Time 38165.3** 734.7** 1075.6ns - (3.08×108)** Substrate× Time 3813.9** 45.3** 1107.1ns - (7.16×107)** Error 285.1 3.2 1109.6 14.4 6335143 and **are non-significant and significant at P≤0.01 New leaf number ns ** New leaf 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 a b c f ef e d de Months of measuring Fig. 6 New leaf number of pothos on different months Stem diameter This study revealed that the effect of potted substrate, different measured months and their interplay on stem diameter of pothos was not significant. The results of Benito et al. (2005) showed that the stem diameter in Fig. 7 Measuring of chlorophyll on pothos leaves cypress wasn’t affected by the growing media, too. The results of chlorophyll amount in plants showed Chlorophyll Index that M2 substrate had highest value, but there wasn't any significant difference between M2 and M3. On the The amount of chlorophyll was measured at the end of other hand, M1 substrate that had less chlorophyll experiment by measuring chlorophyll set (Fig. 7). didn’t have significant difference with M4 (Fig. 8). 79 Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 One of the physiological reasons for growth decrease Also, the results of Ebrahimi et al. (2012)'s experiment may be a disorder in the plant photosynthetic system. showed that cocopeat + perlite substrate had the most One of the ways to find out these disorders in photo- effect on chlorophyll on strawberry leaves that it is synthesis is studying the chlorophyll fluorescence and discordant with the results of this experiment. Bidar- the features related to it (Soltani 2004). According to namani and Zarei (2014) concluded that different pot Hasanpur Asil et al. (2009), the results on Lilium mixtures containing perlite had no significant effect flower showed that the substrate doesn't have a signif- on photos, that it is consistent with the results of this icant effect on chlorophyll index, which is contradic- study. Chlorophyla content in pothos leaf tory to the results of this experiment. a 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 a b b Various media Fig. 8 Chlorophyll of pothos leaves in different media containing cocopeat compost, perlite and rice husk, respectively (Fig. 10). Leaf area Almost two latter media were similar; while coFor calculation of fresh and dry weight of the leaves copeat+ leaf compost had better leaf area than co- and the area of leaves, the models of leaf length and copeat+ mushroom compost from 6th stage to 7th. The width data and also prediction models are used. Due reason for this theorem was distinguished only when to the correspondences between these characteristics there was an obvious comparison between this dia- and measuring data of leaves' length and width, it was gram and a diagram of new leaves' numbers, because represented a diagram of interaction of media and media containing leaf compost had more numbers of measuring time on leaf area only. The best formula new leaves than mushroom-compost ones in these (with comparison of R2, CV etc.) was selected for calculation of LA  37.24F leaf 0.8685 area (Bidarnamani stages. So, total leaves' area was maximum.Effect of 2011). media on total leaf area in pothos plant showed that R  0.9329 2 although coconut+ mushroom compost and coconut+ In this formula LA is Leaf Area and F is leaf's Fresh leaf compost didn’t have significant effect on each weight. Substrate, months of measuring and their in- other, they had more leaf area than coconut+ rice hull terplay had significant effect on leaf area, fresh and and coconut+ perlite (coconut+ rice hull and coconut+ dry weight of the leaf (Fig. 9). Cocopeat + mushroom perlite didn’t have significant effect on each other, compost had more leaf area than media containing leaf too). 80 Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 Total area of leaves (cm2) 25000 20000 15000 cocopeat+rice hull 10000 cocopeat+mushroom compost 5000 cocopeat+leaf compost cocopeat+perlite 0 Media containing cocopeat in different months Fig. 9 Total area of leaves in different media Leaf area (cm2) a 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 a b b Various media Fig. 10 Leaf area of pothos in media containing cocopeat In Khayyat et al. (2007)'s report, higher leaf area in Morphological evaluation pothos plants was observed in peat moss/cocopeat (1:3) compared to the other pot media. But no signifi- Based on all measured and analyzed growth charac- cant variation was shown among recent media and co- teristics, among four substrates containing cocopeat, copeat/peat moss (1:1) and also cocopeat mixtures. In the order of media was M3>M2>M4>M1 after eight other similar diagrams on various times (except stem months (Fig. 12). Thus, M3 and M2 substrates can be diameter), the effect of various times on total leaf area introduced to greenhouse's owner, and everybody can in pothos plant was significant, too (Fig. 11). The var- use the results of this experiment for better growth of iation on two final months was significant only, and it the ornamental plant pothos. is because of warm weather in final stages and generating more new numbers of leaves in pothos plants. 81 Leaf area (cm2) Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 a b c c c c c c Various months Morphological grade Fig. 11 Leaf area of pothos in different months 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 a a b b Varoius media Fig. 12 Morphological score of plants in different media husk, after cocopeat media, but growth rate in co- Conclusion copeat+ rice husk was less than cocopeat+ leaf mold During different months of study on pothos plants, the and cocopeat+ mushroom compost. So other factors growth can be increased by enhancing the tempera- can affect the growth rate besides nutrition and aera- ture; that means, temperature is a stimulus for the tion, such as water maintenance capability. On the growth of the ornamental plants, especially for the other hand, the interaction of two substrates, increas- plants with tropical origin. Substrates such as perlite, ing or decreasing their positive and negative effects on cocopeat, vermiculite etc., can increase media's space growth is very important. For example, plants' root by addition of its amount in the substrate. The produc- may have more aeration in separate usage of perlite or tion of leaves on cuttings displayed earlier growth of cocopeat, but aeration was decreased in their combi- root system in plants; however the other environmen- nation duo to enhancing the water maintenance capa- tal agents can also be involved. Content of main ele- bility. The addition of coconut fiber as a residue from ments in Table 1 showed that nitrogen is higher in rice the consumption of coconut fruit with other compounds showed that the best combination for the 82 Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric 12(1): 73-84, Winter 2023 coir dust and oil palm empty fruit bunch and the growth of hybrida heat tolerant cauliflower plant. Pertanika J Trop Agric Sci 27(2):121-133 Awang Y, Shazmi Shaharom A, Rosli B, Selamat MA (2009) Chemical and physical characteristics of cocopeat-based media mixtures and their effects on the growth and development of Celosia cristata. Am J Agric Biol Sci 4(1): 6371. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajabssp.2009.63.71 Benito M, Masaguer A, De Antonio R, Moliner A (2005) Use of pruning waste compost as a component in soilless growing media: Bioresour Technol 96(5):597-603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2004.06.006 Bidarnamani F (2011) An investigation into various pot mixture effects on morphological characteristics of Pothos (Scindapsus aureum) and benjamina Ficus (Ficus benjamina). MSc Thesis. Faculty of Plant Production. Gorgan University of Agriculture Science and Natural Resources, Iran Bidarnamani F, Zarei H (2014) Comparison of different pot mixtures containing perlite on growth and morphological characteristics of photos (Scindapsus aureum L.). Jornamental 4(4):29-38 Dede OH, Dede G, Ozdemir S (2010) Agricultural and municipal wastes as container media component for ornamental nurseries. Int J Environ Res 4(2):193-200. https://doi.org/10.22059/IJER.2010.9 Ebrahimi R, Ebrahimi F, Ahmadizadeh M (2012) Effect of different substrates on herbaceous pigments and chlorophyll amount of strawberry in hydroponic cultivation system. Am Eurasian J Agric Environ Sci 12(2):154-158 Hasanpur Asil M, Karimi M, Talesh sasani S (2009) Using of Azola compost as a culture media of Beaucarnea recurvate Lem compared with commercial media, peat and cocopeat. 6th Congress of Horticultural Sciences- Poster: 1175-1181 Iftikhar A, Qasim M (2003) Influence of various potting media on growth and nutrient uptake efficiency of Scindapsus aureus. Intl J Agric Biol 5(4):594- 597 Inbar Y, Hadar Y, Chen Y (1993) Waste management: Recycling of cattle manure: The composting process and characterization of maturity. J Environ Qual 22:857-863. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1993.00472425002200040032x Khayyat M, Nazari F, Salehi H (2007) Effects of different pot mixtures on pothos (Epipremnum aureum Lindl.) and Andre ‘Golden Pothos’ growth and development. Am Eurasian J Agric Environ Sci 2(4):341-348 Levy JS, Taylor BR (2003) Effect of pulp mill solids and tree composts on early growth of tomatoes. Bioresour Technol 89(3):297-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0960-8524(03)00065-8 Londra P, Paraskevopoulou A, Psychoyou (2018) Hydrological behavior of peat and coir-based substrates and their effect on begonia growth. Water 10:722. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10060722 Riaz A, Younis A, Ghani I, Tariq U, Ahsan M (2015) Agricultural waste as growing media component for the growth and flowering of Gerbera jamesonii cv. Hybrid mix. Int J Recycl Org Waste Agric 4:197-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40093-015-0099-x growth of pothos plant was leaf mold and mushroom compost, respectively. Therefore, recycling of the waste of the forest trees, mushroom compost and coconut can be a very suitable factor for the growth of the ornamental plants. Also achieving the best time for propagation of pothos plant and estimating the costs of keeping flowers in the greenhouse indicated that it is not economical to propagate this plant in the months with low temperature due to the lack of developmental traits of plants in low temperature in cold seasons. Instead, it can be seen multiplier growth factors in the warmer months in the short period, which reduces propagation and maintenance costs many times over. The addition of coir to a soilless growing medium can be beneficial in many ways: it helps root's aeration in soil media, it supplies water to the potting media due to its high water absorption, and it keeps the plants in the hydroponic culture system. Acknowledgements This article was done with the support of Research Institute of Zabol for Research. Compliance with ethical standards Conflict of interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this study. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. References Abd-El-Hadi M, Shanan N (2010) Enhancement growth characters of Pothos plants (Epipremnum aureum Lindl.) grown in different improved pot media. Int J Acad Res Manag 2(2):89-97 AL-Menaie HS, AL-Shatti AA, Suresh N (2008) Effect of growing media on growth and flowering patterns of Gardenia jasminoides under arid conditions. Eur J Sci Res 24(1):6973 Amerin MA, Pangborn R, Rossler EB (1965) Principles of sensory evaluation of food. 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