Effect of Soaking Durations and Sowing Methods on Nursery Plant Production of Peach

Seed germination and a smaller number of seedlings per unit area are the major problems of peach nursery growers to generate more income in less space. For producing more plants per unit area and increasing yield, row spacing plays a vital role keeping in view the stated problem the research was conducted at Horticulture Research Farm, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan, during 2020–21. The study was laid out in two factor randomized complete block design with three replications. The two factors were soaking durations (0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h) and sowing methods (single, double, triple, and four lines). It is revealed that peach stones soaked for 36 h showed minimum days to 1st germination (75.08 days) and 50% germination (91.42 days) and maximum germination percentage (74.95%) and growth attributes in terms of plant leaf area (3108.3 cm²), number of branches plant⁻¹ (18.50), number of leaves plant⁻¹ (148.08), leaf chlorophyll content (16.71 SPAD), seedling diameter (5.03 mm), seedling height (81.25 cm) and survival percentage (62.31%). The sowing of peach stones in double lines (10 cm apart) showed positive effect on peach seedlings, produced maximum plant leaf area (2251.3 cm²), seedling diameter (4.59 mm), seedling height (73.24 cm) and maximum survival percentage (54.38%). In case of interaction, peach stones soaked for 36 h, sown in double lines method showed maximum plant leaf area (3285.5 cm²), seedling diameter (5.98 mm), seedling height (85.87 cm) and survival percentage (71.51%). It is concluded from the significant results of present research that peach stones should be soaked for 36 h and sown in double lines (10 cm apart) method to obtain a greater number of healthy nursery plants of peach as rootstocks.