Soilless cultivation of Dracaena fragrans: impact of nutrient formulations on vegetative, biochemical and post-harvest traits

Hydroponic cultivation offers a promising approach for producing high-quality cut foliage with efficient nutrient and water use. This study evaluated the impact of different nutrient formulations on the vegetative, biochemical and postharvest attributes of Dracaena fragrans grown under a soilless culture system. Three-month-old plants were cultivated in a closed hydroponic system with light expandable clay aggregates as the medium and irrigated via drip system. Eight nutrient treatments including Hoagland and Arnon (T₂), Hewitt (T₃), Colakoglu-1 and − 2 (T₄ & T₅), Steiner (T₆), Bollard (T₇), Middleton and Toxopeus (T₈), along with water-soluble fertilizer (19:19:19 NPK) (T₉) and rainwater control (T₁), were tested in a Completely Randomized Block Design. Among all treatments, T₂ exhibited superior vegetative performance, recording the highest leaf area index (2.84), leaf area duration (69.80 days), and crop growth rate (3.16 g m⁻² day¹). Biochemically, T₂ also had higher carotene (5.78 mg/g), proline (0.23 mg/g), and total phenol (6.60 mg/g) levels, which may be associated with improved stress tolerance and physiological stability in D. fragrans. Correspondingly, T₂ improved postharvest quality, showing the highest chlorophyll stability, membrane integrity, longest vase life and lowest weight loss. These results demonstrate that the Hoagland and Arnon formulation effectively optimizes growth, stress resilience, and marketable quality of D. fragrans under hydroponic conditions, highlighting its potential for commercial cut-foliage production.