EFFECT OF DIFFFERENT COVERING MATERIALS AND STORAGE DURATIONS ON THE FIELD PERFORMANCE OF TEA STUMP SEEDLINGS

This experiment was conducted at National Tea Research Institute, Shinkiari, Mansehra - Pakistan during November 2010 with the objectives to find out the efficacy of covering materials i.e. polythene and gunny bags along with studying the effect of various storage durations i.e. 3 , 6, 12 and 24 hours on the field performance tea (Camellia sinensis L.) stump seedlings. Data on various parameters was collected one year after planting i.e. during November 2011. It was found that 3 hours interval between nursery lifting and planting in the field recorded significantly the highest survival % age (100%), plant height (41.08 cm), number of braches per plant (4.26), number of leaves plant^-1 (25.41) and fresh plant weight (93.12 g) compared to other storage durations. Investigating the effect of covering materials it was recorded that survival %age (93.33%) and plant height (36.34 cm) was higher in stumps covered with polythene while gunny bag covering produced more number of branches plant^-1 (3.39), number of leaves plant^-1 (17.41) and fresh plant weight (72.49 g).The interaction between covering materials and storage durations was significant only for plant height. On the basis of these findings it is concluded that increasing the storage timing, the growth performance of tea stump seedlings gradually decreased while both covering materials gave satisfactory field performance.