Improving germination and early seedling growth of marula (Sclerocarya birrea) through hydro-priming

A pot and field experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of hydro-priming duration on the germination and early seedling growth of marula. Marula seeds were soaked in water for different durations: no soaking, soaking for 24 hours, soaking for 48 hours and soaking for 60 hours. The treatments in both experiments were arranged in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) replicated four times. The effects of hydro-priming duration on germination percentage were highly significant (p<0.001) in both the pot and field experiments. Marula seeds soaked for 48 hours had the highest germination percentage (45%), in the pot experiment. In the field experiment, a germination percentage of 77.5% was achieved in seeds soaked for 60 hours before planting. The effects of hydro-priming duration were also significant (p<0.05) on germination index in pot and field experiments. Root lengths observed 90 days after planting were significantly (p<0.05) affected by soaking duration in both experiments. Seedlings produced from seeds soaked for 60 hours produced the longest roots in the pot (9.46 cm) and field (16 cm) experiments. From the results of this experiment, it can be concluded that hydro-priming seeds before planting enhances the germination and initial growth of seedlings in marula.