Emergency and initial growth of seedlings of Inga ingoides (Rich.) Willd. in function of the position and depth of sowing

Abstract

The inga (Inga ingoides (Rich.) Willd.) has edible fruits and is also used in riparian reforestation. The objective was to study the effect of the position and the depth of sowing in the emergence and initial growth of Inga seedlings. The experiment was accomplished with a completely randomized design, with four replications of 25 seeds, loaded in a 3 x 6 (positions and depths) factorial outline. The treatments were: hilum upwards, forming a 0º angle in relation to a perpendicular imaginary axis at the level of the substrate; hilum sideways, forming an angle of 90^o in relation to the imaginary axis and hilum downwards, forming an angle of 180° in relation to the imaginary axis. The tested depths were: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 cm. The evaluations were: emergence, first count, index of speed emergence, length and dry mass of the seedlings. The depth of sowing of I. ingoides varied in agreement with the positions, being the best results down of 4 cm deep with the hilum downwards, 2,68-3,0 cm deep with the hilum upwards and 1 cm deep for the seeds, with the hilum sideways.