Effect of pre-sowing treatments and growing media on seed germination and seedling growth of Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth

Abstract

The seeds of Albizia lebbeck have been observed to exhibit physical dormancy due to presence of hard seed-coat. To overcome this problem, the seeds were subjected to seven pre-sowing treatments viz., T1-immersion of seeds in cold water for 12 h; T2-immersion of seeds in cold water for 24 h; T3-immersion of seeds in hot water (100 °C) and subsequent cooling at room temperature for 12 h; T4-immersion of seeds in hot water (100 °C) and subsequent cooling at room temperature for 24 h; T5-immersion of seeds in cold water for 12 h followed by immersion in hot water (100 °C) and allowed to cool for 1 h; T6-immersion of seeds in cold water for 24 h followed by immersion in hot water (100 °C) and allowed to cool for 1 h. Untreated seeds served as control (T0). Treatment T3 gave highest germination (96%) which was comparable with T5 (95 %), T4 (94 %) and T6 (93%). Nine growing media viz., T1: soil,  T2: soil+sand (2:1), T3: soil+perlite (2:1), T4: soil+Farm Yard Manure (FYM) (2:1), T5: soil+vermicompost (2:1), T6: soil+sand+FYM (1:1:1), T7: soil+sand+vermicompost (1:1:1), T8: soil+perlite+FYM (1:1:1) and T9: soil+perlite+ vermicompost (1:1:1) were, also, studied for their effect on seedling growth of A. lebbeck. Among these media, maximum values of shoot length (23.82 cm), root length (21.14 cm), collar diameter (3.59 mm) and seedling quality index (0.350) were observed in T7.