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Effects of Pot Size and Planting Media on the Early Seedling Growth Performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss

Received: 5 August 2021    Accepted: 16 August 2021    Published: 31 August 2021
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Abstract

Neem is a multipurpose tree that is provides food and insecticide and is used for its great number of ethnomedicinal properties. Neem, known botanically as Azadirachta indica A. Juss is a member of the mahogany family (Meliaceae), and orders Geraniales, and is synonymous with Melia azadirachta Linn and Melia indica Brandis. Azandirachta indica originates from the arid and semi-arid areas of Burma and Northeast India. Neem is a large evergreen tree 12 to 20 meters tall and may reach a girth of 1.8 to 2.5 meters with a round, dense crown. The aim of this study was to determine appropriate pot size and growing medium for Azadirachta indica A. Juss seedlings, which will be used for successful plantation. For this purpose, polyethylene pots of 15 cm length and 8, 10 and 12 cm lay flats diameter were used. As growing medium, 5 different treatments were used, containing different ratios of top/local soil (TS), forest soil (FS), compost (Co) and sand soil (SS) collected from local, natural forest environments and highly decomposed compost (the different materials get from locally easily available). The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications under open field conditions of forestry nursery. Some morphological properties of the seedlings, such as seedling height and root collar diameter growth parameters were measured ever two weeks for four (4) months old seedlings. The finding of this experimental study revealed/showed that relatively higher growth recorded in GM2 and GM4 ratio of composite growing media (3/2 topsoil:2 compost:1 sand soil) composites soil mixed growing media with both 10 cm and 12 cm lay flat polythene pots (PS2 and PS3) should be utilized for raising Azandirachta indica (Neem) seedling to achieve the best seedlings quality. To obtain the best or optimum seedling quality were the interaction effects of growing media and appropriated containers (pot sizes) were important and basic than doing experiment separately. Knowing the best growing media was the major determinant to get the best quality seedlings at the nursery for successful plantation.

Published in Journal of Plant Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21
Page(s) 208-213
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Growing Media, Pot Size, Azandirachta indica (Neem), Seedling Quality

References
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[2] Ketkar, C. M. and M. S. Ketkar. (1997). Botany, Pages 1-22. In Narwal, S. S., P. Tauro, and S. S. Bisla (eds.). Neem in Sustainable Agriculture; Scientific Publishers, Jodhur, India, 266 pp.
[3] N. Singh and M. S. Sastry. (1997). Antimicrobial activity of Neem oil,” Indian Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 13, pp. 102–106.
[4] A. Kher and S. C. Chaurasia. (1997). Antifungal activity of essential oils of three medical plants,” Indian Drugs, vol. 15, pp. 41–42.
[5] U. Bandyopadhyay, K. Biswas, A. Sengupta et al., (2004). Clinical studies on the effect of Neem (Azadirachta indica) bark extract on gastric secretion and gastro-duodenal ulcer, Life Sciences, vol. 75, no. 24, pp. 2867–2878, 2004.
[6] Albrecht A, Kandji S. T. (2003): Carbon sequestration in tropical Agroforestry systems agriculture. AgrEcosyst Environ; 99: 15–27.
[7] Abad, M., et al., (2002). Physico-chemical and chemical properties of some coconut dusts for use as a peat substitute for containerized ornamental plants. Biores. Technol. 82: 241-245.
[8] Simons, T (1999). Good Tree Nursery Practices: practical guidelines for research nurseries. Pp. 22_50.
[9] Binkley, D. (1986). Forest Nutrition Management, Pp. 188-191.
[10] Mailer, V. (1981). Nursery Management Manual issued free by the Ministry of Agriculture. Pp. 4, 34-35.
[11] Landis, D., R. W. Tinus, S. E. McDonald & J. P. Barnett. (1990) Containers and Growing Media, Vol. 2. The container tree nursery manual, Agriculture Handbook 674 US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, DC.
[12] Duryea ML, Brown GN (1984) Seedling Physiology and Reforestation Success. Proceedings of the Physiology Working Group Technical Session, Society of American Foresters National Convention, Portland, Oregon, USA.
[13] Guldin RW (1982). Capital Intensity and Economics-of-scale for Different Types of Nurseries, p. 87-96. In Proc. South.
[14] Trubat R, Cortina J, Vilagrosa A. (2010). Nursery fertilization affects seedling traits but not field performance in Quercus suber L. J Arid Environ. 74: 491–497.
[15] Okunomo K. (2010). Germination response of soursop (Annona muricata) to various nursery techniques. Proceedings of the 2nd Biennial National Conference of the Forest and Forest Products Society. 2010; 112-116.
[16] Nandeshwar, D. L. & A. K. Parta. 2004. Selection of proper potting mixture for production of Acaciacatechu seedlings in the root trainers. Indian Journalof Tropical Biodiversity 12: 72-74.
[17] Ngwuta AA et al (2016). Juvenile phenology of Jatropha curcas as by selected nursery growth media, International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development; 19 (1): 2506-2510.
[18] Mathowa T, et al. (2014) Effect of media on seedling growth of African baobab (Adansonia digitata L). International Journal of Advance Research in Biological Sciences; 1 (7): 94-104.
[19] Okunomo K, Ogisi DO, Bosah BO. (2009) Effect of growth media on germination and seedling growth of Persea Americana (mill.) Journal of Food Agriculture & Environment; 7 (1): 111-113.
[20] Dickens D. (2011). Effect of propagation media on the germination and seeding performance of Irvingia wombolu (Vermoesen), American Journal Biotechnology and Molecular Sciences; 1 (2): 51-56.
[21] Omokhua GE, Ogun A, Oyabade BA. (2015). Effects of different sowing media on germination and early seedling growth of Terminalia ivorensis (A. Chev.), International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research; 4 (3): 119-122.
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    Hirpa Abebe. (2021). Effects of Pot Size and Planting Media on the Early Seedling Growth Performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. Journal of Plant Sciences, 9(4), 208-213. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21

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    Hirpa Abebe. Effects of Pot Size and Planting Media on the Early Seedling Growth Performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. J. Plant Sci. 2021, 9(4), 208-213. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21

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    AMA Style

    Hirpa Abebe. Effects of Pot Size and Planting Media on the Early Seedling Growth Performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. J Plant Sci. 2021;9(4):208-213. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21,
      author = {Hirpa Abebe},
      title = {Effects of Pot Size and Planting Media on the Early Seedling Growth Performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss},
      journal = {Journal of Plant Sciences},
      volume = {9},
      number = {4},
      pages = {208-213},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jps.20210904.21},
      abstract = {Neem is a multipurpose tree that is provides food and insecticide and is used for its great number of ethnomedicinal properties. Neem, known botanically as Azadirachta indica A. Juss is a member of the mahogany family (Meliaceae), and orders Geraniales, and is synonymous with Melia azadirachta Linn and Melia indica Brandis. Azandirachta indica originates from the arid and semi-arid areas of Burma and Northeast India. Neem is a large evergreen tree 12 to 20 meters tall and may reach a girth of 1.8 to 2.5 meters with a round, dense crown. The aim of this study was to determine appropriate pot size and growing medium for Azadirachta indica A. Juss seedlings, which will be used for successful plantation. For this purpose, polyethylene pots of 15 cm length and 8, 10 and 12 cm lay flats diameter were used. As growing medium, 5 different treatments were used, containing different ratios of top/local soil (TS), forest soil (FS), compost (Co) and sand soil (SS) collected from local, natural forest environments and highly decomposed compost (the different materials get from locally easily available). The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications under open field conditions of forestry nursery. Some morphological properties of the seedlings, such as seedling height and root collar diameter growth parameters were measured ever two weeks for four (4) months old seedlings. The finding of this experimental study revealed/showed that relatively higher growth recorded in GM2 and GM4 ratio of composite growing media (3/2 topsoil:2 compost:1 sand soil) composites soil mixed growing media with both 10 cm and 12 cm lay flat polythene pots (PS2 and PS3) should be utilized for raising Azandirachta indica (Neem) seedling to achieve the best seedlings quality. To obtain the best or optimum seedling quality were the interaction effects of growing media and appropriated containers (pot sizes) were important and basic than doing experiment separately. Knowing the best growing media was the major determinant to get the best quality seedlings at the nursery for successful plantation.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Effects of Pot Size and Planting Media on the Early Seedling Growth Performance of Azadirachta indica A. Juss
    AU  - Hirpa Abebe
    Y1  - 2021/08/31
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21
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    JF  - Journal of Plant Sciences
    JO  - Journal of Plant Sciences
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20210904.21
    AB  - Neem is a multipurpose tree that is provides food and insecticide and is used for its great number of ethnomedicinal properties. Neem, known botanically as Azadirachta indica A. Juss is a member of the mahogany family (Meliaceae), and orders Geraniales, and is synonymous with Melia azadirachta Linn and Melia indica Brandis. Azandirachta indica originates from the arid and semi-arid areas of Burma and Northeast India. Neem is a large evergreen tree 12 to 20 meters tall and may reach a girth of 1.8 to 2.5 meters with a round, dense crown. The aim of this study was to determine appropriate pot size and growing medium for Azadirachta indica A. Juss seedlings, which will be used for successful plantation. For this purpose, polyethylene pots of 15 cm length and 8, 10 and 12 cm lay flats diameter were used. As growing medium, 5 different treatments were used, containing different ratios of top/local soil (TS), forest soil (FS), compost (Co) and sand soil (SS) collected from local, natural forest environments and highly decomposed compost (the different materials get from locally easily available). The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications under open field conditions of forestry nursery. Some morphological properties of the seedlings, such as seedling height and root collar diameter growth parameters were measured ever two weeks for four (4) months old seedlings. The finding of this experimental study revealed/showed that relatively higher growth recorded in GM2 and GM4 ratio of composite growing media (3/2 topsoil:2 compost:1 sand soil) composites soil mixed growing media with both 10 cm and 12 cm lay flat polythene pots (PS2 and PS3) should be utilized for raising Azandirachta indica (Neem) seedling to achieve the best seedlings quality. To obtain the best or optimum seedling quality were the interaction effects of growing media and appropriated containers (pot sizes) were important and basic than doing experiment separately. Knowing the best growing media was the major determinant to get the best quality seedlings at the nursery for successful plantation.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Sinana Agricultural Research Center, Bale-Robe, Ethiopia

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