By Adeyemi, A.A., Ibe, A.E. and Soetan, O.E.
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of different sowing media on Pentaclethra macrophylla (Benth.) seedlings growth. The study was laid out in 3×3 factorial experiment in a completely randomized design (CRD) with sowing medium and watering regime as the two factors. The three-sowing media used were sterilized river-sand, topsoil and a mixture of both. The watering regimes were: early morning, twice daily (i.e. morning and evening) and evening. Twelve trays were assigned to each treatment (sowing medium) making 36 trays for the experiment. Eight seeds were sown in each of the trays. Number of seedlings that germinated from each germination tray was recorded. After five weeks of germination, seedling height, collar diameter, leaf area and leaf number were measured and counted on each of the seedlings. Data were analyzed using ANOVA (i.e. factorial experiment). The highest seedling emergence of 28.1% was obtained under the mixture of sterilized river-sand and topsoil. This was followed by the 27.1% in sterilized river-sand. The least germination percentage (17.7%) was recorded in topsoil. The result revealed that watering in the evening was the best for the propagation of P. macrophylla. There were significant variations among the mean seedling heights, collar diameters, leaf areas and leaf numbers under different sowing media and watering regimes (P<0.05). The interaction effects of sowing media and watering regimes on seedling mean heights, collar diameters, leaf areas and leaf number were also significant (P<0.05). The follow-up test results further showed that sterilized river-sand supported the best growth with the highest mean value of 18.8±2.7cm in seedling height, 22.6±4.2 cm2 in leaf area and 1.84±0.6 cm in collar diameter. Watering in the evening yielded the best result with means of 15.7±1.3 cm, 22±4and 22.7±3.6cm2 in seedling height, leaf number and leaf area respectively.