Effect of Different Sowing Media on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of (Golden Shower Tree) <i>Senna fistula L</i>

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of sowing media on the seed germination and subsequent seedling growth of Senna fistula L. Treatments were T1 (Top soil), T2 (River sand), T3 (Grinded coconut husk) and T4 (weathered sawdust), replicated two times for seed germination. The treatments were arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and the data generated was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance, while mean separation where appropriate was done using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The different sowing media used had positive effect on the seed emergence, the seeds planted in river sand had the highest emergence percentage of 70%. The different sowing media used did not have any significant effect on the vegetative growth parameters, statistically, they had same effect on the parameters measured. Nonetheless, seedlings from river sand produced highest number of leave (20.4), seedlings from topsoil produced highest plant height and largest leaf area of l0.62 cm and 37.l4 cm² respectively. The seedlings from weathered sawdust produced the highest stem diameter of 0.79 mm, while seedlings from grinded coconut husk had lowest values for all the growth parameters measured. Therefore, it is recommended that river sand or weathered sawdust can be used to propagate Senna fistula seeds.