The influence of sowing media on the growth performance of Piliostigma thonningii (Schum) Milne-Redh

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the Influence of sowing media on the growth performance of P. thonningii in a nursery. 90 seedlings of P. thonningii were subjected to top soil, saw dust and river sand respectively. The experiment was laid in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 3 treatments and replicated 30 times. The following variables were measured for a period of 12weeks: plant height, stem girth and number of leaves. The results revealed that there were significant differences (p≤0.05) among the growth media on the height, collar diameter and number of leaves. Top soil had the highest mean values of height (7.12 ± 0.65), collar diameter (1.89 ± 0.15) and number of leaves (5.13 ± 0.35). This was followed by sawdust with 3.88 ± 0.40 cm for the height, 1.40 ± 0.15 cm for the collar diameter and 3.31 ± 0.22 for the number of leaves. River sand had the lowest mean values of height (0.24 ± 0.22), collar diameter (0.06 ± 0.05) and number of leaves (0.17 ± 0.15). It is therefore recommended that top soil should be used for optimum growth and development of P. thonningii improved quality seedlings in the nursery for successful afforestation programme.