Effect of seed coat removal and nursery growing media on the growth and leaf nutrient content of mango seedling rootstocks

Numerous studies and plethora of research papers are available on examining the growth and leaf nutrient content of the established mango orchards. However, research on the containerized mango seedlings at nursery level is scanty. Therefore, a container-based experiment was executed in 2015 to investigate growth parameters and leaf nutrient content of the seedlings in response to seed source and growing media. The seeds of Sindhri variety were taken and divided into two groups viz. corticated and decorticated seeds. The seeds of each group were planted in four different growing media as GM1 (soil), GM2 {(bagasse (70%) + cocopeat (5%) + canal silt (25%)}, GM3 {(Bagasse (60%) + cocopeat (5%) + Canal silt (35%)} and GM4 {(Bagasse (20%) + cocopeat (20%) + Canal silt (30%) + Press mud (30%). This research was conducted under Completely Randomized Design with three replications. The data analysis revealed that seed source and growing media had non-significant interactions for most of the parameters and significant as main factors. Concerning to the seed source, decorticated seeds were better for almost all growth and leaf nutrient content parameters, while growing media responded in different way. The GM2 had higher seed germination, germination index, seedling vigour index, seedling height, stem diameter, leaves per seedling and leaf chlorophyll content. However, higher nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium were in the seedlings grown in GM4. It is concluded that the decorticated seeds and GM2 medium were better for seed germination and growth parameters, while nutrient leaf content were higher in GM4 medium.