Effects of substrate type and moisture content on seed germination and seedling growth of Moringa oleifera

A pot experiment with three moisture contents（ 50%，75%，100% of field capacity） and three regimes of substrate（ latosolic red soil singly，latosolic red soil + peat soil（ 1∶1，V/V），and peat singly） was conducted，to study the effects of different substrate types and moisture contents on Moringa oleifera seed germination and seedling growth. Exposed in latosolic red soil，M. oleifera seed germination gradually rose along with the increase of moisture content，but seedlings all died in the course of experimental period. In latosolic red soil + peat（ 1∶1 by volume） and peat，M. oleifera seed germination decreased significantly with moisture content increasing，and 100% field capacity seriously inhibited the M. oleifera seedling growth in the peat；the latosolic red soil + peat（ 1∶1 by volume） in the 50% of field capacity was the highest for M. oleifera seed germination，up to 65%，growth of seedling height up to 33 centimeter and M. oleifera seedling leaflet numbers up to 30 pieces. Variance analysis results revealed that effects of substrate type，moisture content of substrate and the interaction of moisture content and substrate were significant for M. oleifera seed germination，seedling height and leaflet numbers. The latosolic red soil + peat（ 1∶1， V/V） in the 50% of field capacity had the best effect on M. oleifera seed germination and seedling growth.