Effect of Growing Media and Pre - Sowing Seed Treatments on Germination of Areca Palm (Dypsis lutescens H. Wendl.)  

Abstract

The study on enhancing germination in areca palm through growing media and pre-sowing seed treatments was conducted from March to August 2023-24 at the University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot. The experiment was arranged in Factorial CRD with 24 treatment combinations, study found that seeds treated with hot water at 90 °C for 30 minutes + soaked in GA₃ at 500 ppm for 72 hours, then sown in sand had the fastest germination (44 days), highest germination rate (86%) and best speed of germination (0.20 seeds/day). For seedling growth, the same treatment combined with a soil mix (Soil + Sand + FYM 2:1:1) resulted in the best performance, with the longest seedling length (29.25 cm at 150 DAS), highest shoot and root dry weight, maximum fresh weight and best survivability (82.06%). The study concludes that hot water and GA₃ treatment combined with a soil mix is the optimal method for enhancing both seed germination and growth.