Influence of Different Soil-Less Media on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Papaya cv. Red Lady

Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a fast-growing, tropical tree, cultivated for its fruit and papain. The delay in nursery seed germination and poor seedling growth is a big problem due to the presence of inhibitors in the gelatinous sarcotesta and seed coat, unsuitable growing media or substrate, soil-borne disease, rudimentary embryo or lack of embryo and unsuitable environmental factors such as oxygen, water and temperature. The growing medium plays an important role in seed germination, not only acting as a support but also serves as a source, but also a source of key nutrients for seedling growth. Considering this, the present experiment was undertaken to study the effect of soil-less growing media (viz. different combinations of vermicompost, cocopeat, sphagnum peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, sand and sawdust) for seed germination as well as seedling growth of papaya. The experiment was laid out in polythene packet following design CRD with 13 treatments and 3 replications in the shade net house situated adjacent to the faculty of Horticulture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal. Maximum number of seeds germinated (19.6 out of 20) and germination percentage (98.3%) were found with (Vermicompost + Sphagnum Peat Moss + Sand) followed by (Vermicompost + cocopeat + Sand) and (Vermicompost + cocopeat). Early seed germination (8.3 days from seed sowing) and duration of seed germination (2.3 days) were noted with (Vermicompost + Cocopeat + Perlite). The seedling vigour index was maximum with (Vermicompost + cocopeat + Sand). From the result of the present investigation, it can be concluded that media containing mixture of (vermicompost + sphagnum peat moss + sand) and (Vermicompost + cocopeat + Sand) is ideal for getting higher seed germination and seedling growth. Higher seedling length as well as maximum number of leaves were observed due to the beneficial effect of media mixture on water holding capacity, porosity and soil aeration which is good for root and shoot growth. Peat moss is the most mainstream constituent in nursery for containerized planting media whereby it is usually incorporated to amplify water retention and plummeting the media total weight along with upright characteristics such as low bulk density, structural stability and low pH made it an essential growing medium.