Effect of Seed Size and Different Pretreatment Methods on Germination of Albizia zygia (DC.) J. F. Macbr

Albizia zygia produces valuable timber which has received some level of prominence in the international market. However, the seeds are dormant, and the tree species remain undomesticated. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of seed size and presowing on the germination of Albizia zygia in a nursery. Seeds were grouped into four categories in regard to their length, small (≤0.5 cm), medium (> 0.5 < 0.8 cm), large (≥0.8 cm), and mixture of small, medium, and large seeds. The seeds were subjected to five main seed pretreatment methods, namely, soaking in sulphuric acid (H2SO4) for 2 minutes, mechanical scarification, soaking in hot water for 5 minutes, soaking in cold water for 24 hours, and control where seeds were sown without any treatment. The results indicate that combination of mechanical scarification and large seeds produced the highest (100%) germination. Hot water treatment was effective in large seeds producing 69.0% germination. The increased germination for mechanically scarified seeds suggests that seed dormancy in Albizia zygia is mainly due to its hard seed coat. Therefore, it is recommended to farmers to adopt use of mechanical scarification and large seeds, since it is safe and effective

Seed Germination of Faidherbia albida (Delile) A. Chev as Influenced by Different Pretreatments

Faidherbia albida is an agroforesrty tree that has the potential of promoting agroforestry establishment in Nigeria. The seeds are glossy due to the presence of wax in the seed coat which prevents easy penetration of water. Thus, this study assessed the effect of different pretreatments (biological, mechanical and chemical) on the germination of F. albida seeds. The treatments include; seeds scarified at the helium, soaked in cold water for 24 hours, soaked in hot water for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, & 15 minutes and soaked in Conc. H2SO4 for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes. The result showed that all treatment had uniform germination percentage of 100% but seeds soaked in H2SO4 for 15 min and 10 min had the highest germination value of (65.25) and (65.00) respectively, followed by 15mins soaking in hot water (47.14) while the least germination value was recorded in seeds scarified mechanically (33.31). Analysis of variance revealed that there was no significant difference in the treatments. However, seeds treated with H2SO4 at 15 mins and 10 mins had the best performance in terms of germination value compared with other treatments. Therefore, for optimum and uniform germination, the seed of F. albida seeds should be soak in concentrated H2SO4 for 15 min

Effect of different potting media on the early growth of Mansonia altissima (A. Chev)

The effect of different potting media on the early growth of Mansonia altissima was investigated with a view to producing viable and vigorous planting stock of the species for afforestation and reforestation programs. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of nine (9) treatments of potting media with 9 replicates; T1- riversand (400g) + topsoil (400g) + poultry manure (400g) + cow dung (400g), T2- riversand (400g) + topsoil (800g) + poultry manure (400g) , T3- riversand (400g) + topsoil (800g) + cow dung (400g), T4- topsoil (1200g) + cow dung (400g), T5 - topsoil (1200g) + poultry manure (400g), T6- topsoil (800g) + riversand (800g), T7- topsoil (800g) + cow dung (800g), T8 - topsoil (800g) + poultry manure (800g) and T9- (control 1600g riversand). Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and mean separation using Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5% level of significance. The results showed that there were significant differences (p<0.05) among the treatments in plant height, stem diameter, leaf and biomass production. T3 had the best performance in plant height (32.78cm), stem diameter (3.49mm) while T7 had the highest leaf production (32.0) and T6, the highest biomass production of 6.25g. However, T9 (control) gave the minimum results of mean plant height (10.10cm), mean leaf production (8.91) and biomass production (1.01g) but T8 produced least stem diameter (1.32mm). The study therefore showed that incorporation of optimum level of organic manure into the potting media will improve growth of M.altissima seedlings