Effect of growing media from agriculture waste onseed germination of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. 'Sida')

At present, demand is increasing for pre-started tomato seedlings, so more people are interested in producing tomato seedlings on a commercial scale. There is a need to find a low-priced, high-quality growing medium made from locally sourced materials. This research aimed to test growing media made from agricultural by-products for starting tomato seeds. The experiment was planned in complete randomized design (CRD) with 4 replications. 'Sida' tomato seeds were planted in plug tray (104 plugsper tray), each filled with a different planting medium: treatment 1 was peat moss as the control; treatment 2 was coco coir:rice husks:rice husk ash:filter cake at the rate of 2:1:2:2; treatment 3 was coco coir:rice husks:rice husk ash:LDD12 biofertilizer at the rate of 2:1:2:2; treatment 4 was coco coir:rice husks:rice husk ash:LDD12 biofertilizer at the rate of 2:1:2:1; treatment 5 was coco coir:rice husks:rice husk ash:filter cake:LDD12 biofertilizer at the rate of 2:1:2:2:2; treatment 6 was coco coir:rice husks:rice husk ash:filter cake:LDD12 biofertilizer at the rate of 2:1:2:2:1. It was found that after 7 days the highest germination rate of tomato (87.25%) was grown in treatment 1 (control), but there was no significant difference from treatments 2, 4, 5, and 6 (75.60, 75.36, 72.01, and 72.83%, respectively), and after 14 days there were no statistically significant differences in germination rates among the different growing media tested.