EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT POTTING MIXTURES ON THE GERMINATION AND EARLY GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF TAMARINDUS INDICA IN ALIERO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KEBBI STATE, NIGERIA.

The study was conducted in Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, trees seedling nursery. This study was carried out to investigate the evaluation of different potting mixture on the germination and early growth performance of Tamarindus indica .This research constitute of three different Potting mixtures, fertilizer, poultry droppings, cow dung potting mixture with 12 replication for each treatment making a total of 36 replications, in each replicate three seeds of Tamarindus indica was sown, which was thinned to one seedling per polythene pots after germination. A complete randomized design (CRD) was used. Data was collected two weeks after germination Data collected from growth parameters ( Seedling height, number of leaves and collar diameter) were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Statistical Analysis System (SAS, 2003) computer package at 5% level of significance. Where significant differences occur between means treatment, least Significant Difference (LSD) test was performed to separate mean differences among treatments. Tamarindus indica seedling exposed to river sand and cow dung (2:1) produced the highest seedling height (24.74 cm) number of leaves (10) and collar diameter (0.36mm). The highest germination was recorded from sulphuric acid (75%) followed by hot water (15%) while the lowest germination percentage was recorded from cold water treatment (10%). river sand/cow dung is effective for growth of Tamarindus indica seedling and sulphuric acid for seed germination.