Abstract:
This study was conducted in the nursery of the College of Agricultural Studies (Shambat), Sudan University of Science and Technology, the objective with to investigate the impact of Argel and Haza plant shoots extracts on germination speed and percentage of seeds and seedling growth in 'Kitchiner' mango cultivar. Seeds were decorticated (Endocarp) and submersed in extracts under investigation for 90 minutes prior to planting in plastic bags containing a (2 silt: 1 sand mix) soil, under nursery conditions. The tested extracts were as follows: cold water extract of 15 g Argel plant shoots, hot water extract of 15 g Argel plant shoots, boiled water extract of 15 g Argel plant shoots, cold water extract of 15 g Haza plant shoots, hot water extract of 15 g Haza plant shoots and boiled water extract of 15 g Haza plant shoots beside the control. The complete randomized design was used and each treatment was replicated 10 times. Data were collected at 2 days interval. Germination started one week after planting. The results revealed an increase in germination percentage in treated seeds compared to the control. The highest germination percentage in the first reading was obtained from the cold water extract of Haza plant shoots and at the sixth reading 100% germination was achieved from the hot water extract of Haza plant shoots, while this percentage was recorded in the 8th week for the cold water extract of Argel plant hoots and in the 10th week for the hot water extract of Argel plant shoots. The highest germination percentage recorded for the control was only 60%. Significant increments in growth parameters were recorded as a result of treatments compared to the control. The boiled water extract of Haza plant shoots resulted in highest values for the
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seedling height, number of embryos, root number and length and leaf width. The hot water Haza plant shoots extract recorded the highest values for seedling height (significantly similar to the boiled water extract of Haza plant shoots), stem thickness and leaf number. The hot water extract of Argel plant shoots did not differ significantly from the pre-stated results of the impact of hot and boiled water extracts of Haza plant shoots on seedling height, leaf number, length and width.
The results are indications of the efficacy of the tested plant extracts, especially hot and boiled water extracts of Haza plant shoots beside the boiled water extract of Argel plant shoots in increasing germination speed and percentage and growth attributes of the resulting seedlings in a way that may encourage further studies to confirm this growth promoting property and its use in other agricultural applications.
