Abstract

There is paucity of researched established information on the effect nitrogen-based fertilizers on the growth of Chrysophyllum albidum. To improve the slow growth of Chrysophyllum albidum, investigation was carried out. A 3 x 3 split-plot experimental design accompanying three replications was selected to determine the effects of sources of nitrogen and watering regimes on the growth of Chrysophyllum albidum seedlings. Three sources of nutrient namely, urea (5g)., calcium ammonium nitrate (5g) (CAN) and cow dung (10g) constituted the main plot treatment. The daily watering (200ml), 3 days interval (200ml) and 5 days interval (200ml) constituted sub plot treatment. The treatment consisted of three sources of nitrogen and three watering regimes copied three times. Twelve (12) seedlings represented a replicate. Three hundred and twenty-four (324) seedlings were involved. A month old C. albidum seedlings were transplanted into pots with and without fertilizers and subjected to 200ml at varying day’s interval. Data collected were subjected to two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance. The results revealed that sources of nitrogen and watering regimes considerably (p<0.05) embellished the growth of C. albidum.  Among the sources of nitrogen, seedlings cultivated in soil influenced with urea had significant height (24.38cm)., girth (3.42cm)., collar diameter(1.71cm)., relative turgidity (68.91%)., NAR(0.007gcm^-2wk^-1) and AGR (0.703gwk^-1). Significant height (28.67cm)., girth(3.8cm)., leaf number (18.82)., collar diameter (1.90cm) and RGR (0.80gg^-1wk^-1) were recorded from seedlings subjected to 3 days watering intervals. The amendment of soil with urea and administration of 3 days watering intervals enhances the growth of C. albidum seedlings.

Key Words: Sources of nitrogen, Watering regime, Growth, Soil amendment, Inorganic fertilizers