Germination and Early Growth of Brachychiton populneus (Schott & Endl.)  in Response to Different Shade Percentages and Sowing Depths.

Sherzad O. Hamad; Ako H. Mahmood; Narin S. Ali

doi:10.21271/ZJPAS.35.1.7

Authors

Sherzad O. Hamad Department of Forestry, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University- Erbil, 440002 Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Ako H. Mahmood Department of Forestry, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University- Erbil, 440002 Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Narin S. Ali Department of Forestry, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University- Erbil, 440002 Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21271/ZJPAS.35.1.7

Keywords:

Sowing depth, Shade percentage, Brachychiton populneus, Bottle tree germination, and seedling growth

Abstract

A tree's ability to develop and its full potential depends on the environment in which it grows, especially during its early growth and germination stage. Due to the importance of planting depth and shadowing % as two important parameters for seed germination and early seedling growth under nursery conditions, this experiment was conducted to generate Brachychiton populneus seedlings at the optimal depth. In this study, three levels of shade conditions were tested with depths of 0, 1, 2, and 3 cm, respectively (0 percent shade, 50 percent shade, and 75 percent shade, respectively). The experimental design was factorial complete randomized design (CRD) with four replications for each treatment. At the end of the trial final germination percentages and vegetative growth parameters were measured. The results indicated that the different sowing depths and shade percentage treatments had a great significant influence on germination percentage, stem length, basal stem diameter, leaf number, and root length either in separately or in combination between both. Mean of germination percentage under zero shade percentage (full sunlight) significantly better than those under 50 and 75 shade percentage. Furthermore, the highest germination percentage was 80 % when the seeds were sown under full sunlight (zero shade percentage) and in 1 cm deep or under 50% shade percentage and 2 cm deep. Our results will help forest nurseries to produce healthy and a high quality of B. populneus seedlings for better chance of plantation programs.

References

Adelani, D. O. 2015. Effects of pre-germination treatments and sowing depths on early growth of sesban (Sesbania sesban). Applied Tropical Agriculture, 20(1), 31-36.

Anderson, E. 2016. Plants of Central Queensland: Identification and Uses of Native and Introduced Species. CSIRO Publishing, 576pp. https://doi.org/10.1071/9781486302260

Ayobola MS Matthew O, Idowu AB. 2010. Allopathic effects of Ludwigia decurrens and L. adscendens subsp diffusa on germination, seedling growth and yield of Corchorus olitorious L. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 2(2), 75-80.

Barnett, J. E. 1997. Relating pine seed coat characteristics to speed of germination, geographic variation, and seedling development. Tree Planters Notes, 48, 38-42.

Bhatla, S. C., & Lal, M. A. 2018. Plant physiology, development and metabolism. Singapore. Springer. 1237 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2023- 1

Chima, U.D., Etuk, E.C. & Fredrick, C. 2017. Effects of sowing depths on the germination and early seedling growth of different seed sizes of Annona muricata L. African Journal of Agriculture, Technology and Environment, 6(2), 134-144.

Dardour, M., Daroui, E. A., Boukroute, A., Kouddane, N. E., & Berrichi, A. (2014). Study of pretreatment seeds Brachychiton populneus (Schott &Endl.) R. Br. and B. acerifolius F. Muell. for germination). J. Mater. Environ. Sci, 5(6), 1877-1884.

Fu, Y., Li, H., Yu, J., Liu, H., Cao, Z., Manukovsky, N.S. and Liu, H., 2017. Interaction effects of light intensity and nitrogen concentration on growth, photosynthetic characteristics and quality of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. Var. youmaicai). Scientia horticulturae, 214, pp.51-57.

Gifford, R. M., Thorne, J. H., Hitz, W. D., and Giaquinta, R. T. 1984. Crop productivity and photoassimilate partitioning. Science 24, 801–808. doi: 10.1126/science.225.4664.801

Guo, Y., Shelton, M. G., & Lockhart, B. R. 1999. Effects of the forest floor and acorn placement on establishment and early development of water oak seedlings. In Proceedings, 10th Biennial southern silvicultural research conference. Asheville, NC: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station (pp. 127-131).‏

Hamad, S. O., Ali, N. S., & Karim, S. A. 2020. Effects of Light and Fertilizer Amounts on Seedling Growth of Brachychiton populneus (Schott & Endl.). Basrah Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 33(2), 158-171. https://doi.org/10.37077/25200860.2020.33.2.14

Hamad, S. O., & Anwer, L. S. 2021. Effect of Pre-treatments and Sowing Depths on Germination and Early Growth of Leucaena leucocephala seeds. Zanco Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, 33(s1), 53-61. https://doi.org/10.21271/ZJPAS.33.s1.5

Karim, S. A., Qadir, S. A., & Sabr, H. A. 2020. Study some of morphological and physiological traits of Kurrajong Brachychiton populneus (Schott & Endl.) seedlings planted under water stress conditions. Basrah Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 33, 213–220. https://doi.org/10.37077/25200860.2020.33.1.16

Khalid, M. H. B., Raza, M. A., Yu, H., Sun, F., Zhang, Y., Lu, F., & Li, W. C. 2019. Effect of shade treatments on morphology, photosynthetic and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.). Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 17(2), 2551-2569.

Kibru, T., Zewdie, S., Gure, A., & Gebre, T. 2015. Effect of growing media, sowing depth, and hot water treatment on seed germination and seedling biomass of Acacia senegal (L) wild. Science, Technology and Arts Research Journal, 4(3), 47-57.

Koester, R. P., Skoneczka, J. A., Cary, T. R., Diers, B. W., and Ainsworth, E. A. 2014. Historical gains in soybean (Glycine max Merr.) seed yield are driven by linear increases in light interception, energy conversion, and partitioning efficiencies. J. Exp. Bot. 65, 3311–3321. doi: 10.1093/jxb/eru187

Kozlowski, T. T., & Pallardy, S. G. 1997. Physiology of Woody Plants (Second Edition). Elsevier, 411pp. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-424162- 6.X5017-0

Lal, P. 2003. Seed sowing techniques in nursery. In forest tree seeds and nursery management (Virendra, S. & S. K. Lavania), Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, pp 165-174.

Lambers, H., Chapin, F. S., & Pons, T. L. 2008. Plant Physiological Ecology (Second Edition). Springer. Verlag, New York. 605pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-78341-3

Pallardy, S. G. 2008. Physiology of Woody Plants. (Third Edition). Academic Press. 464 pp.

https://www.elsevier.com/books/physiology-ofwoody-plants/pallardy/978-0-12-088765-1

Sikuku, P.A., Musyimi, D.M. and Amusolo, M., 2018. Effect of seed depth on germination, growth and chlorophyll contents of Senna spectabilis. In Discovery Science (Vol. 14, pp. 84-92).

Sherzad, O. H., Mohd Zaki, H., Hazandy, A. H., Mohamad Azani, A., & Noordin, W. D. (2015). Growth and physiological responses of Shorea materialis Ridl. seedlings to various light regimes and fertilizer levels under nursery condition. The Malaysian Forester, 78, 133–150. http://malaysianforester.my/admin/content/MF78_p 13.pdf

Singh, O., Lalhal, J. S., & Prasad, B. 1996. Artificial ripening and seed maturity in Silver Fir (Abies pindrow Spach). Indian Forester, 122(5), 386-389.‏

Tao, Y. Y., Shang, T. C., Yan, J. J., Hu, Y. X., Zhao, Y., & Liu, Y. 2022. Effects of sand burial depth on Xanthium spinosum seed germination and seedling growth. BMC Plant Biology, 22(1), 1-9.

Uchida, R. S. 2000. Essential Nutrients for Plant Growth: Nutrient Functions and Deficiency Symptoms. 31-55. In Silva, J. A. & Uchida, R. S. (Eds.), Plant Nutrient Management in Hawaii’s Soils, Approaches for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture. University of Hawaii, Manoa, 158pp. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/1908

Wan, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, M., Hong, A., Yang, H., & Liu, Y. 2020. Shade effects on growth, photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of three Paeonia species. PeerJ, 8, e9316.‏