Germination and morphological characteristics of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Pico de Loro seedlings, tolerant to salinity.
Pérez P. E., Quintero C. M., Sandoval S. L., Viloria Z.
Author Affiliation: Facultad de Agronomía. L.U.Z., Apartado 15205, Maracaibo, Zulia 4005, Venezuela.
Revista de la Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad del Zulia 15 : 526-533
Abstract : This study was carried out on mango cv. Pico de Loro seedlings (with a view to their potential use as stock plants) from plants grown in saline soils at the Ariguapa farmers settlement, Páez Municipality, Zulia state, Venezuela. The evaluation was made in the shade house at the University of Zulia located in a very dry tropical forest zone. The seeds of known weight (KW) were sown in a plot prepared with a 3:1 mixture of loam and river manure. The number of germinated seeds was counted daily in order to calculate percentage germination (PG) and rate of germination (RG). At 30 days after seed germination the number of seedlings per seed (NSS), the percentage of transplantable seedlings (PPS), seedling height (SH), stem thickness (ST), leaf number (LN) and node number (NN) were determined. Seed germination began at the 7th day and extended to the 11th day. PG was 90% and RG 5.2 days. NSS was 4.1; PPS 51.63%; SH 17.29 cm; ST 0.29 cm; LN 3.50 and NN 2.51. A positive correlation was detected between SH and KW and between these 2 and LN, NN and ST. LN, NN, ST and SH showed a negative correlation with NSS. It is concluded that seeds of greater weight presented a low NSS but had good morphological characteristics, while the opposite occurred with seeds of lower weight.