Sowing of botanical seeds and height at transplanting Erythrina mysorensisand its establishment

The sowing of botanical seeds and plant height at transplanting were studie d under field conditions in a random block design with 6 replications to ev aluate Erythrina mysorensis establishment. Treatments consisted of direct s owing by botanical seed and plants transplanted from the nursery to the fie ld at heights of 3-5 cm, 23-25 cm and 34-36 cm. Growth, stem thickness, num ber of leaves per plant and lodging and survival percentages, were measured . Results, 150 days after sowing or transplanting, indicated significant (P < 0.05) differences in the number of leaves per plant being greater when t ransplanting at 3-5 cm (51 leaves/plant) and 34-38 cm (39 leaves/plant). St em thickness did not differ between treatments and ranged between 2.4 and 2 .9 cm. The highest plant growth (cm/day)(P < 0.01) was found when sowing wa s by botanical seed (0.53) and the transplanting at 3-5 cm (0.50). More lod ged plants were observed with the greater transplanting heights (23-25 and 34-38 cm) with a lodging of 14.7 and 26.6%, respectively. There was no lodg ing in the rest of the treatments. Survival in the field was, in general, h igh, but better(P < 0.05) for botanical seed sowing (96.2%). It is conclude d that transplanting of this species under field conditions, must be carrie d out when plants reach 3-5 cm in the nursery or it should be sown directly by the botanical seed.