Determination of optimum nursery soil mixture and pot size for propagation of leucaena pallida: a promising browse species at Bako

A pot experiment was conducted on Leucaena pallida Britton and Rose at Bako tree nursery. Three different pot sizes together with four different soil mix ratios were combined and compared to determine optimum nursery soil mixture and pot size that can serve as a basis for successful propagation of this promising browse species in the area. Treatments were polyethylene pots of different sizes (8 cm, 10 cm and 12 cm width when flat - all with 15 cm length) and soil mixtures of different proportions (3 part local soil: 2 part sand:1 part forest soil3 part local soil:1 part sand:2 part forest soil3 part local soil:2 part sand:1 part farm yard manureand 3 part local soil:1 part sand:2 part farmyard manure on volume basis). The treatments were handled as 3*4 factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Results revealed that seedling growth was significantly affected by both post size and soil mixture, but the interaction between them was not significant for the considered parameters except for germination rate. Accordingly, the performance of L. pallida seedlings was significantly higher for the larger pots (10 cm and 12 cm) than for that of the smaller (8 cm). Moreover, seedling growth was significantly higher for soil mixtures containing farmyard manure than for those with no farmyard manure, but seedling survival was significantly higher for the latter than for the farmer. This leads to the need for trading off between survival and seedling growth. The 10 cm pot size is the optimal size both economically and biologically. Therefore, it is advisable to use the medium sized pot (10 cm) and soil mixture without farmyard manure but with more sand and some forest soil (3 part local soil:2 part sand:1 part forest soil) as this was the best combination for optimal seedling performance in the nursery. But the case might be different under field condition after ou-planting, and hence further study is suggested in this area.