Effect of seed pretreatments on germination and watering regimes on early seedling growth of Afzelia africana Sm & Pers

Abstract

Effect of pretreatments on germination of Afzelia africana seeds and watering regime on the seedlings growth was assessed. The pre-treatments used were; cold water treatment, hot water treatment, acid treatment, mechanical scarification and control. While watering regimes include; daily, thrice a week, and twice a week watering. The Pretreatments were completely randomized into three replications. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance. The result showed the highest germination percentage (58%) in cold water treatment while the least (5%) was recorded in hot water treatment. Seedling height was highest in thrice a week watering regime (18.24cm), seedling diameter was found highest in daily watering while the highest number of leaves (15) was obtained from seedlings under thrice a week watering regime. However, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the seedling collar diameter and number of leaves. Since seed pretreated with cold water gave the best germination and thrice-a-week watering regime proved to yield a better growth rate, pretreatment with cold water and thrice-a-week watering regime is therefore recommended for propagation of Afzelia africana.