Comparative effect of different soils on the emergence and early growth of Albizia lebbeck (Linn)

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different soils on the germination and early growth of Albizia lebbeck (Linn). The seedlings of Albizia lebbeck were pre-treated by mechanical method using ‘Nicking’ with secateurs. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The three treatments were used with five replicate per treatment. Soil type had three levels (river, loamy and clay sands) as media for propagation and treatments. The emergence of the seeds were studied for a period of two weeks before transplanting was done into polythene pots of the same treatments for further studies within a period of ten weeks. Sixty seedlings were transplanted into the different soils each. Germination percentage, Plant height, Collar diameter and Leaf production were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The result showed that River sand has the highest percentage (75%) and Clay having the least (61.7%). There was no significantly different (p >0.05) in the height and leaf production except in the collar diameter of Albizia lebbeck. Loamy soil had the highest value in all the parameters (11.24cm, 15cm, and 1.78mm) respectively. It is therefore concluded that River sand is best for the germination of Albizia lebbeck as it gave the highest emergence percentage while Loamy soil had the best performance on the growth is best for raising vigorous seedlings of Albizia lebbeck.