Effect of different growth media on growth, survival rate and seedling vigour of cocoa (Theobroma Cacao)

Abstract

The study was carried out to investigate the effect of different growth media on growth, survival rate and seedling vigour of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) at the nursery stage. The cocoa seedlings were nursed at Sefwi Wiawso College of Education in the Western North Region of Ghana. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates. The treatments were top soil (T1), Sawdust (T2), Cocoa pod husk (T3), Top soil+Sawdust (T4), Top soil+Cocoa podhusk (T5) and Sawdust+Cocoa pod husk (T6). Sixteen (16) poly bags size of 17.5 cm base × 25 cm height was filled with the respective media. Seeds were sown two seeds per poly bag at the depth of 2 cm. The parameters measured were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The means were separated by Least Significant Difference (LSD; P<0.05). The results from the study showed that, Top soil+Sawdust growth media supported best growth of cocoa seedlings in all the parameters than the other treatments. However, Cocoa pod husk media responded poorly to all the growth parameters of the cocoa seedlings at nursery stage. It is recommended that the use of sawdust to amend growth medium could be a promising alternative for raising cocoa seedlings at the nursery stage.