Growth of Seedlings of two Oil Palm Varieties (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the Nursery Using two Container Types

Background: The production of high-quality planting material during the nursery stage is essential for establishing productive, competitive, and sustainable oil palm plantations. Genetic material and container type may influence seedling development.

Objective: To evaluate the growth of seedlings of two oil palm varieties, Deli × Compacta and Compacta × Ghana (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), produced using two container types.

Methods: The experiment was conducted in Macuspana, Tabasco, Mexico. Seedling growth was evaluated in two varieties, Deli × Compacta and Compacta × Ghana, using tube containers and plastic bags. A randomized complete block design was established with four treatments and four replications, with 100 seedlings per replication (400 seedlings per treatment; 1,600 seedlings in total). Plant height, number of leaves, and stipe diameter were measured every 15 days over 180 days. The same agronomic management was applied to all treatments. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey’s multiple comparison test.

Results: Significant differences among treatments were detected for the evaluated growth variables. For plant height, T3 (Compacta × Ghana in tube containers; CxGt) showed the greatest value at 180 days, reaching 68.37 ± 0.61 cm. For number of leaves, T1 (Deli × Compacta in tube containers; DxCt) and T3 (Compacta × Ghana in tube containers; CxGt) recorded 12.95 ± 0.11 and 12.38 ± 0.10 leaves, respectively, at 180 days. For stipe diameter, T1 and T2 showed the highest values at 180 days, with 2.21 ± 0.03 and 2.19 ± 0.03 cm, respectively, whereas T4 recorded 1.95 ± 0.02 cm.

Conclusions: Under the conditions evaluated, seedlings produced in tube containers showed greater plant height and number of leaves at the end of the nursery period. Stipe diameter was higher in the Deli × Compacta material than in the Compacta × Ghana material at 180 days. These results support the potential use of tube containers for nursery production.