Effect of Sowing Media and Gibberellic Acid on the Growth and Seedling Establishment of Bougainvillea glabra, Ixora coccinea and Rosa chinensis. 2. Root Characters

Abstract

Two pot experiments were carried out in the screen house of the Faculty of Agriculture Bayero University Kano (Latitudes 80 421N and 90301N) during the wet and dry seasons of 2008/2009 to investigate the effects of Sowing Media and Gibberellic acid (GA₃) concentrations on the growth and seedling establishment of three ornamental plant species. The treatments consisted of three sowing media (Top soil TS, mixtures of Top soil plus Poultry manure TS+PM and Top soil plus Sawdust TS+SD) in the ratio of 2:1, three GA₃ concentrations (0, 100 and 200ppm) and three plant species (Bougainvillea, Ixora and Rose); factorially combined and laid out in a completely randomized design with four repetitions. The results indicated that TS+SD medium gave significantly (P<0.05) higher number of roots and root lengths per plant while the least was with TS+PM medium. TS and TS+SD media were significantly higher than TS+PM medium in terms of root fresh weight and root dry weight per plant. Application of GA₃ at 100ppm compared to 0 and 200ppm concentrations gave significantly (P<0.05) better responses for all the root characters. The same trend was true for Bougainvillea compared to Ixora and Rosa. Hence, based on the outcomes of this experiment, combinations of TS+SD medium and GA₃ at 100ppm concentration are recommended for better root establishment, growth. and development in relation to the three plants under study.

Keywords: Gibbrellic Acid, Sowing Media, Bougainvillea glabra, Ixora coccinea, Rosa chinensis