Nurturing Arecanut (Areca catechu L.) seedlings

Arecanut (Areca catechu L.) is a tropical monoecious palm belonging to family Palmae. Potting media play important role in growth crop during early growing stages by providing nutrition required by the crop for healthy and vigorous growth. Arecanut is a perennial crop and has slow growth process during seedling stage. Thus the development of seedlings can be enhanced through the use of different combination of potting media. A nursery-based experiment was conducted to determine suitable potting media for growing arecanut seedlings in polybags at College of Horticulture, Dr. BSKKV, Dapoli during 2021-22. The experiment was carried out in randomized block design and consisted of eight treatments. The experiment revealed that different potting media have substantial impact on growth of arecanut seedlings. The treatment containing Soil, Vermicompost and Sand in 1:1:1 proportion was found most effective in promoting growth and beneficial for production of robust arecanut seedlings.