Media Effects on Emergence and Growth of Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam) Seedlings in the Nursery

This study was carried out in the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka to determine the effects of different sowing media on emergence and growth of moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam) seedlings in the nursery. The moringa seeds used for the study were collected from different parts of Nigeria; Nsukka (Eastern Nigeria), Ibadan (Western Nigeria) and Jos (Northern Nigeria). The sowing media were weathered sawdust (100%), top soil (100%), weathered sawdust plus cured poultry manure in the ratio of 2:1(volume by volume; v/v), and top soil plus cured poultry manure plus river sand in the ratio of 3:2:1(v/v/v). Perforated black polythene bags were used as potting media. The experiment was a 3 x 4 factorial trial in completely randomized design with three replications. The seeds sown in the 100% topsoil took average of 8.2 and 9.0 days to have first and 50% seedling emergence. Weathered sawdust medium gave the highest mean percentage seedling emergence (84%) followed by the sawdust plus cured poultry manure (82%). The topsoil (control), 100% sawdust and weathered sawdust plus cured poultry manure had similar coefficient velocity of seedling emergence (11%). The topsoil medium (control) had the highest values of plant height and stem girth while sawdust plus poultry manure gave the highest number of leaves in the seedlings. There were no significant differences (P = .05) in the morphological traits of the seedlings in the different sowing media. The three accessions of Moringa oleifera also had no significant differences (P = .05) in their morphological growth . Sawdust and sawdust plus poultry manure encouraged early seedling emergence in moringa and sustained their growth in the nursery for four weeks. The media can, therefore, be used as good substitutes for topsoil in nursery establishment of crops with short nursery lives.