The Disparity in the Germination Time of Argan Nuts (Argania spinosa L. Skeels) on the Growth of Their Seedlings in Nurseries

Subject Areas : Plant Physiology

Kaddour MAAMAR KOUADRI ¹ , Aida SAIFOUNI ² , Kenza BOUBETRA ³ , Aissa MIHOUBI ⁴

1 - National Forest of Research Institute
2 - National Forestry of research Institute
3 - National Forestry of Research Institute
4 - National Forestry of Research Institute

Received: 2023-07-08 Accepted : 2024-01-23 Published : 2024-04-21

Keywords: Argan tree, pre-treatment, plants, breeding, nursery,

Abstract :

The disadvantages encoutered for the multiplication of the Argan tree are the embryonic and integumentary dormancy, which directly affects the rate and the delay of germination, the standards of aggregation of the plants for the reforestation and in parallel on the stay time in the nursery. The study was conducted on Argan tree (Argania spinosa (L) Skeels) seedlings from two types of experimental germination of the kernels in the nursery: one pre-treatment with hot water and the second without pre-treatment (control); the aim is to see the effect of the duration of germination on the growth of the seedlings. The walnuts germinating for a short time gave plants of almost convergent height (varying from 23 to 25 cm), i.e., the average height was very representative and similar to the height of their plants (24.94 cm). On the other hand, walnuts with a long germination period produced seedlings of varying heights (ranging from 09 to 27 cm), with an average height different from their range of seedlings (17.46 cm). Regarding diameter growth, germination time did not affectyoung plants. When the germination period is short, it is possible to obtain homogeneous seedlings that meet phytotechnical standards for reforestation. According to this study, Argan seedlings should not be kept in the nursery for more than 33 weeks (08 months); otherwise, there is a risk of a poorly formed root system.

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