Effect of plant growth regulators and chemicals on seed germination and seedling growth in papaya (carica papaya) var. red lady

Seed germination is the most important aspect for raising the nursery for successful seedling production of Papaya. The present study was carried out at Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University to study the Effect of Plant growth regulators and chemicals on seed germination and seedling growth in Papaya (Carica Papaya) variety Red lady. The treatments comprised of five levels of GA3 T1 GA3 100 ppm for 12 hrs, T2 GA3 200 ppm for 12 hrs , T3 GA3 300 ppm for 12 hrs , T4 GA3 400 ppm for 12 hrs, T5 GA3 500 ppm for 12 hrs and five levels of KNO3 T6 KNO3 0.5% for 12 hrs, T7 KNO3 1% for 12 hrs, T8 KNO3 1.5% for 12 hrs, T9 KNO3 2% for 12 hrs, T10 KNO3 2.5% for 12 hrs and T11 Control (Without Soaking). Observations were recorded for germination percentage (%), Plant height (cm), No. of leaves, Leaf area (cm2), No. of primary roots, No. of lateral roots, Root length (cm), Fresh weight of seedling (g) and Dry weight of seedling (g). Results revealed that Treatment T2 GA3 200 ppm dipping for 12 hrs recorded the maximum germination percentage of papaya seeds (88.28 %) followed by T3 GA3 300 ppm for 12 hrs (83.56 %) than T11 control which recorded the minimum germination percentage of 41.08 %, plant height (25.84 cm), more number of leaves (19.58), maximum leaf area (49.36 cm2), more number of primary and lateral roots (13.04 and 93.31) with maximum root length (33.43 cm) and also recorded the maximum fresh weight and dry weight of seedlings (18.88 and 1.94 g) which was followed by the treatment T3 GA3 300 ppm for 12 hrs than control T11 which recorded the least values on all growth attributes.