Germination of seeds of some local pioneer plant species in different hydroseeding mulches for revegetation of post-coal mining soil

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the hydroseeding mulch optimum compositions for germination and productivity of a few species of local plants pioneer in the post-mining land of coal from South Kalimantan. The method used in this research was by hydroseeding technique. The species observed were Crotalaria pallida, Cajanus cajan, Kyllinga monocephala, Paspalum conjugatum, Digitaria sanguinalis and Eleusine indica. Seven variations of mulch were added to the post-mining soil. Planting seeds carried out were monoculture and polyculture. Each composition of mulch was replicated three times resulting in 147 pots. Seed germination was observed for 15 days. The results showed that all species were able to germinate and and grow well in the mulch that was added to the post-mining soil, except Kyllinga monocephala on mulch two, four and five and Digitaria sanguinalis on mulch four. The best mulch for plant growth was characterized by pH of 6.8-7.0, 47-59% organic matter, and energy ranging from 2,337.68 to 3,792.68 Kcal/kg. The highest percentage of germination was observed for Cajanus cajan (56.7%) and Crotalaria pallida (39.4%) on mulch two with germination time of eight and three days after planting. The lowest germination percentage was shown by Kyllinga monocephala at all mulch treatments (up to 30 days after planting). The optimum composition of mulch that could be recommended to accelerate the revegetation was mulch two (pH 7.06 and 59% organic matter), especially for Leguminosae, and mulch seven (pH 6.8 and 47% organic matter), especially for Poaceae and polyculture.

Comparing seeds germination of some local plant species on two hydroseeding mulches for post mining revegetation

“…C. cajan seeds of Leguminosae just germinated in M 2 medium, in 3 DAS, with 20% of germination rate until 13 DAS. The similar result was reported by Azalia et al (2016) that C. cajan seeds were able to germinate in all mulch media with the fastest germination time in 3 DAS and the mean of seed germination starting time in all media occurred in 7 DAS. Baiti and Arisoesilaningsih (2015) reported that seeds of C. cajan sown in mulch media with 0.5 cm depth did not germinate at all.…”

“…The seeds of Leguminosae showed a higher germination rate and a faster germination time compared to the seeds of Cyperaceae and Poaceae. This supported a finding of Azalia et al (2016) that the germination rate of Leguminosae seeds was higher and the germination time was faster than the rate and time of germination of Poaceae and Cyperaceae seeds.…”

“…The time required for seeds to germinate in both media was the same, in 2 DAS. These results indicated that the germination time of C. pallida seeds in M 1 and M 2 media was a day faster than those in previous study conducted by Azalia et al (2016), as well as Baiti and Arisoesilaningsih (2015).…”

“…The mean of germination time of Cyperaceae seeds in some media was 19 DAS (Azalia et al, 2016). A factor influencing the time of sedge seed germination is temperature.…”

“…Several previous greenhouse studies have demonstrated the successful germination of local plant seeds from Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and Leguminosae families in some hydroseeding mulch media containing natural gum. The seeds of C. brevifolius, C. eragrotis, C. odoratus, C. strigosus, E. indica, Eulalia amaura, P. conjugatum, S. indicus, C. cajan, C. pallida, Desmodium triflorum, Indigofera spicata, and S. grandiflora were able to germinate and grow on these media (Yulianingsih and Arisoesilaningsih, 2015;Baiti and Arisoesilaningsih, 2015;Rahma and Arisoesilaningsih, 2015;Azalia et al, 2016). However, the previous mulches were not resistant under heavy rain, the slurry tended to be disintegrated and finally seeds germinated in low rate.…”