Germination and seedlings performance of cashew ( Anacardium occidentale, Linn ) as affected by Nut-Sowing orientations and cotyledon removal

The effects of nut-sowing orientations on the germination of cashew nuts and the responses of the resultant seedlings to cotyledon removed were studied in the nursery. While cashew nuts sown flat and those with stylar-end up had highest mean germination of 91.67 % and 92.50 % respectively the nuts sown with stalked-end up had the least mean germination of 51.67 % at 4 weeks after sowing (WAS). Cashew seedlings whose the two cotyledons were removed recorded least performance in plant height (17.25 cm) number of leaves (10.00), leaf area (25.76 cm2) and stem circumference (1.48 cm) while the control whose cotyledons were intact, recorded highest performance of 24.69 cm, 15.30, 47.61 cm and 2.52 cm in plant height, number of leaves, leaf area and stem circumference respectively at 12 WAS. Keywords : Nut-sowing orientations, seedling cotyledon removal, nut-germination and earth-up cotyledons. Nigerian Journal of Horticultural Science Vol. 10 2005: pp. 59-64