Abstract

                                A nursery experiment was conducted to study the effect of phosphatefertilizer application on seedling growth and stump quality of teak seedling.The pre-conditioned 8 months-old teak drupes (fruit with seed) were placedfor germination in the nursery bed. The experiment consisted of seventreatments replicated four times. The number of seedlings emerged/4m2was observed at 28 days after sowing (DAS) and, 2,3,4,5 and 6 months aftersowing (MAS). The results revealed that the application of different levelsof P2O5 did not have any significant effect on number of seedlings/4m2 ofteak up to 4 months after sowing, whereas the significant influences wereobserved at 5 to 6 months after sowing. Significant differences were alsoobserved in root length, shoot length and stump girth at 6 months aftersowing due to P fertilization levels. The correlation relationship of teakgrowth parameters with post-harvest soil revealed the positive and significantcorrelation of teak root volume and dry matter with soil available P statuswas observed. The results suggest that the application of 60 kg P2O5/hain teak nursery bed enhanced the seedling growth and stump quality of 6months-old teak nursery plants through enhanced P availability.

Key words : Teak nursery, phosphorus application, seedling growth, stump quality