Department of Nature Conservation, Faculty of Natural Science, Mangosuthu University of TechnologyP.O. Box 12363 Jacobs, 4026, Durban, South Africa
The experiment conducted with lettuce, tomato and maize seeds pre-soaked in 5, 10, 20 per cent vermicompost concentrations and for 10 hrs and supplemented with NPK fertilizer showed that vermicompost at 10 per cent concentration produced maximum seed germination in lettuce and tomato, while maximum germination in maize seeds was obtained with 20 per cent vermicompost concentration. There was a significant difference in the number of leaves, length of shoot, length of root, wet and dry weight of plants tested at (P<0.01) across treatments. It was concluded that pre-soaking seeds in vermicompost leachate was beneficial in maximising plant growth.
Vermicompost, Seed germination, Plant growth
