TY - BOOK AU - Deka H K AU - Parimelazhagan T AU - Reju M J TI - Effect of different mulch materials on the growth of rubber seedlings in nursery PY - 2004/// PB - Journal of Plantation Crops KW - Broad leaf mulch KW - Dont growth KW - Paddy mulch KW - Polythene mulch KW - Rubber seedling nursery N2 - The beneficial effects of five different mulch materials in improving the growth of rubber seedlings in the nursery was studied. Among the five treatments, the rubber seedlings in the paddy straw plots showed the best growth, followed by broad leaves, bamboo leaves, black polythene, transparent polythene mulches, when compared with unmulched control plants. Significant differences were observed for height of the plants between mulched and unmulched plots. The increase in girth and height in the plant of mulched plots varied from 41.9;to 96.2;and 6.9;to 14.6;respectively. In contrast, in polythene mulched plants the range of increase in the girth was only 8.3;to 15.9;while the height increase ranged between 1.3;to 5.5;. No significant difference was observed in the growth parameters of polythene mulched and unmulched plants. Mulching with plant material helped in maintaining the soil temperature and soil moisture at an optimum level, which favoured the growth of the plants ER -