Effects of nursery beds and different sizes of polythene bags on germination, growth, and development of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) seedlings

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of different sizes of black polythene bags and nursery beds on germination and growth of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) seedlings and to compare the cost of these methods with the traditional methods of establishing cacao plants. The cacao beans planted in the nursery beds recorded the highest mean value of percentage germination (85%) followed by those planted in medium-sized bags and forestry bags (84.5% each). The least mean days to germination were also obtained in the nursery beds. The different sizes of polythene bags did not significantly (P > 0.05) affect the morphological growth parameters of the seedlings except for leaf area. The seedlings also performed relatively well in the nursery beds in terms of the morphological parameters. The coefficients of correlation between the root volume and stem height, stem diameter, leaf number, and leaf area were significant (P < 0.05). The sawdust-topsoil mixture gave higher values of dry matter production in the polythene bags and nursery beds. The differences in sizes of black polythene bags were only significant (P < 0.05) at the 16th week of planting in terms of dry matter production.