Effect of some organic, inorganic and foliar fertilizers on the growth of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) seedlings raised in soils of contrasting characteristics

The establishment of cocoa farms has been popular with the use of nursed seedlings in polybags. Availability of fertile topsoil for nursing cocoa seedlings is becoming limited and poor seedling growth of cocoa in the nurseries has been ascribed to the use of unsuitable potting media. A search for an alternative means of raising healthy seedlings at the nursery that will accelerate seedling growth is what this trial investigates. The experiment was laid out in 2 x 5 factorial arranged in Completely Randomized Design with four replications. Two soils, ‘Black soil’ obtained from a refuse dump and topsoil of Wacri series, collected from an old cocoa farm were used. Five fertilizer sources, control, inorganic, organic and two foliar fertilizers were used. Seedlings were raised from mixed hybrid cocoa and assessed at bi-weekly intervals for 14 weeks for growth. Initial soil analyses showed that the Black soil was relatively fertile compared to the Wacri series. Percent seedling emergence was initially higher with the unfertilized soil than the fertilized. Dry matter yields of roots and leaves were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the fertilizer. Application of fertilizers had no significant (p>0.05) effect on stem dry matter yield. Finally, seedlings from the Black soil which had higher initial fertility status performed better than those of Wacri series. With the different fertilizers on the growth performance and dry matter production, foliar fertilizer treatments performed better compared with the organic and inorganic fertilizers. From  the  experiment, it  is  concluded that the well decomposed Black soil from the refuse  dump remains  the  best  medium  for  the  nursery work, but  in the absence of this medium, less fertile topsoil  could  be used  for raising cocoa seedlings and  the  growth boosted with foliar fertilizers.