Effect of Tea as a Potting Substrate on Germination and Seedling Growth of Papaya Seeds

Papaya is one of the most important fruit crop. It is grown in tropical to sub tropical areas all over the world and is mainly propagated by seeds which show wide variability in germination and seedling growth. The experiment was conducted to find out the “effect of tea as a potting substrate on germination and seedling growth of papaya seeds.”. Tea was used as a substrate in this experiment. Tea can improve soil porosity, density and soil nutrient and helps to suppress plant disease because it is comprised of microbes, humic acid, nitrogen, carbon etc. Total six treatments comprising of 100, 80, 70, 60, 50 and 0 % of tea were placed in Completely Randomized Design. There were three replications for each of the six treatments, which were put in pots having the combination of growing media. Observations were taken at different day’s interval from sowing. In terms of plant parameters significant difference was observed from 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th week after emergence. In overall it was obtained that 60 and 50% of tea was most effective medium for papaya seedling production.

Tea when used as a potting substrate at 60 and 50% in combination with soil had desirable positive impact on growth of papaya seedlings.