Effect of Growing media on Germination and Seedling Growth of Four Different Varieties of Tomato [Solanum lycopersicum (L.)] in Khumaltar Lalitpur, Nepal

Aims: Food security is one of the global challenges in this developing world, and the quality of seedlings influences the overall production of vegetables. Thus, the core objective of the study was to determine the impact of various growing media on high-quality seedling production and to analyze whether these media were variety-specific or not.

Study Design: A two-factor factorial experiment using a completely randomized design (CRD) was conducted to assess the interaction effects of both factors.

Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was conducted at the seedling production greenhouse of Vegetable Crops Development Centre-Khumaltar Lalitpur, Nepal in March, 2023.

Methodology: Six different combinations of growing media: soil, sand + soil + FYM, sand + soil + vermicompost, coco peat, coco peat + FYM, and coco peat + vermicompost, and four different varieties of tomato: Srijana, Khumal-2, Khumal-3 and Monoprecos were tested in a two-factor factorial completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications for each combination of treatments.

Results: The results of this experiment revealed that seeds of all varieties of tomato on coco peat and vermicompost were successful in better seedling growth and seedling health. Also, growing media with coco peat led to a higher germination percentage (72.92%), lower mean germination time (8.922 days), and higher speed of germination (1.745). Coco peat + vermicompost showed superior seedling growth parameters, including shoot length (7.852 cm), root length (7.123 cm), root to shoot ratio (1.161), dry weight (0.1781 g), fresh weight (1.483 g), and dry matter accumulation (12.90%). Among the varieties, Monoprecos exhibited the highest germination percentage (66.1%) and seed vigor index (933.8), although it had the highest mean germination time (10.26 days). Shoot length, speed of germination, root length, and root to shoot ratio were statistically similar among varieties. Fresh and dry weights were higher in the Srijana variety, while dry matter accumulation did not vary significantly among varieties.

Conclusion: Vermicompost in the presence of coco peat has a significant impact on the germination and growth of tomato seedlings. No variety-specific growing media was recommended for seedling production in tomatoes. Based on the results, it is recommended to explore the effect of different compositions of vermicompost on tomato seedlings for healthy seedling production.