Effect of adding composted sewage sludge to the mixture on Sophora japonica L. seed germination and growth indicators

Abstract

The research was carried out in the nursery of the Faculty of Agriculture - Damascus University in 2019-2020, the aim of research is to study the effect of the composition of the seedling mixture [soil +sand+ fermented municipal manure in a ratio of 1: 1: 1 (A), soil +sand+ Fermented sewage sludge in a ratio of 1: 1: 1 (B), soil +sand+ fermented sewage sludge + sand in a ratio of 1: 1:2(C)] on seed germination Sophora japonica L. and its growth indictors. The result of the statistical analysis showed  that there were significant differences in the germination indicators (germination %, speed of germination  and homogeneity of germination), The two mixtures A and B were significantly superior to the percentage of germination (26.67%-23.33% respectively) over the mixture A (14.44%), As for the germination speed, the mixture B achieved the highest speed of germination (4.30 days/seed) with an apparent difference with mixture C (4.47 days/seed) and a significant difference with mixture A (5.21 days/seed), As for the homogeneity of germination, the mixture B was apparently superior (1.41 seeds/day) over mixture C (1.18 seeds/day), and the two mixtures B and C were significantly superior to mixture A (0.68 seeds/day). The results of the statistical analysis also showed that there were significant differences in the indices of vegetative and root longitudinal growth; the plants grown in mixture B were significantly superior in length of the vegetative and root groups (79.72 cm-47.14 cm, respectively) in both mixture C (57.5 cm-39.08 cm) and mixture A (42.17 cm-30 cm, respectively), and the difference was significant between the two mixtures A,C.