Effect of Seed Position in the Pod on the Germination and Development of Telfairia occidentalis

Abstract

This study was aimede effect of seed location in the pod on the germination and development of Telfairia occidentalis and to identify the portion of the seed pod that contain more female plants. This study was conducted at the Department of Botany experimental garden, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka during the 2019 planting season. There was five different seed location in the pod, the far-head (FH), near-head (NH), middle (M), far-tail (FT) and near-tail (NT) regions which were treated with poultry manure. The results of this study revealed that the location of seed in the seed pod of fluted pumpkin affects germination and vegetative growth. The growth parameter data results showed that the seeds located in the middle section of a pod of fluted pumpkin are far much better than those seeds collected from the head section in terms of length of vine, stem girth, a number of nodes number of leaves, leaf area, percentage of germination, fresh weight and dry weight. The results provide an important tool for the improvement of the yield of fluted pumpkin and also a foundation for numerous researches yet to come.