Effect Of Different Composition Of Growth Media On The Growth Of Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao) Seedlings In The Nursery

Abstract

The Experiment was conducted at the Multi-Purpose Crop Nursery of Akenten Appiah Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED) formerly University of Education Winneba, Mampong –Ashanti (UEW - M). Experimental Design used was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five treatments. The five treatments used in the experiment wereT1= 100% topsoil, T2 = 75% topsoil+ 25% river, T3=50%topsoil +50%river sand,T4 25%topsoil +75%river sand and T5 =100%River sand. These treatments were replicated three times with twenty polybags per treatment. Morphological growth measurements such as plant height, width, number of leaves, were recorded to evaluate treatment effects. In addition, plant canopy, stem diameter and area of leaves were also collected The data collected was analyzed by using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using Genstat statistical package, version 9.2 (Genstat 2012). The least significance difference (LSD) at p= 0.05 was used to separate the means where significant differences were observed. From the results of the study,100% topsoil(T1) gave the best seedling growth followed by T3 and T2, T4 and T5 gave the poorest results. T1 is therefore recommended followed by T3 and T2.