Germination Pattern and Root Trainer Performance of Terminalia arjuna: A Troublesome Tree Species in Plantation Trials

In order to study the germination pattern and root trainer technology for Terminalia arjuna, its seeds were procured from two places of central Kerala and their germination studies were conducted in six different sowing media using fresh, pretreated and seeds stored up to three months. Germination value (GV) for all the field trials was calculated that showed highest for fresh seeds without pretreatments sown in PBCP and RTCP. Maximum GV for pretreated seeds were recorded in control and in gibberellic acid (100 ppm) treated seeds sown in PBCP and RTCP. Analysis of variance shows significance at 1% level between medium, between pretreatments and between years of study. Transplantation shock, bulkiness, and frequent change of polythene bags cause additional labor by conventional method but root trainers have advantages such as requiring no change of medium, least possibility of transplantation shock, advantage of air pruning, prevention of root coiling due to antispiral design and requirement of small area which makes them suitable for mass production of seedlings.