| Measures to improve efficiency and quality of mangium (Acacia mangium willd.) planting-stock production were investigated. Germination of mangium seeds was tested in controlled-environment conditions after applying a range of hot-water pretreatments. Pouring two parts of boiling water to one part of seeds by volume, and leaving the seeds soaking in the water for 30 minutes, was the best and most practicable pretreatment. This pretreatment was then used to test germination in several media in greenhouse conditions. Sand, sandy loam soil and peatmoss were found to be good sowing media, each of which gave a germination capacity of more than 94%, within a 21-day germination period. Mangium seeds sown in media in greenhouse conditions germinated much faster than on Kimpak in a germinator.;Direct sowing in sand over a growing medium in containers proved better in terms of survival and quality index at 12 weeks than transplanting of germinants, with or without root trimming, from a germination medium into the growing medium in containers. Direct seeding can therefore be proposed as a more efficient method than transplanting, which is commonly used in practice.;During early seedling development, mangium produces bipinnate leaves, except the first leaf which is once pinnate. The lower portion of the rachis (defined as that portion of the leaf axis distal to an adaxially situated first gland) of the bipinnate leaves is gradually transformed into a phyllode through three consecutive leaves. A fully developed phyllode, without distinct apical remnants of pinnae, is formed by the age of 11 weeks, from leaf 11 or 12. All subsequent leaves are phyllodes. |
