Effects of selected green manure on the growth of Tetrapleura tetraptera (Schum and Thonn) Taubert seedlings

Abstract

Despite the high medicinal properties of Tetrapleura tetraptera to most of the people of Nigeria and other nations of the world, it only exist as a protected and semi domesticated plant. This study was carried out to determine the effect of green manure (Chromolena odorata and Tithonia diversifolia) on the growth of Tetrapleura tetraptera seedlings with a view to enhancing growth without causing any damage to the environment. The treatments were Chromolena odorata leaves (5g, 10g, 15g and 20g), Tithonia diversifolia leaves (5g, 10g, 15g and 20g) and the control. Thirty-six (36) healthy seedlings were selected and transplanted into polythene pots filled with 1 kg of loamy soil with different levels of C. odorata and T. diversifolia. Each treatment was replicated four times and laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Initial growth parameters were taken after transplanting into polythene pots and every other data were collected every two weeks for the period of 12 weeks. The data collected were height growth (cm) collar diameter (cm) and leaf production. Data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results from ANOVA revealed that there was no significant (p>0.05) difference among the treatments used at 5% level of probability which implies that varying level of green manure employed shows no significant effect on the height, stem diameter and leaf production of T. tetrapleura seedlings.