We examined the influence of nursery soil cover on germination of
Thujopsis dolabrata var.
hondai. Seeds were sown under seeding bed conditions: (1) nursery soil (andosol) without soil cover, (2) Kanuma pumice without soil
cover, (3) nursery soil with nursery soil cover, and (4) nursery soil with sterilized sand cover. Germination percentages
were compared between these conditions. The germination percentage (8.8%) at 10 weeks after sowing under condition 3 was significantly
lower than under conditions 1, 2, and 4 (56.8%, 52.0%, and 47.2%, respectively). Of the nongerminated seeds under condition
3, 75.0% were decayed and several fungi were isolated from decayed seeds. An inoculation test of isolated fungi
Cylindrocarpon tenue,
Cylindrocarpon sp.,
Fusarium oxysporum, and
Botrytis sp. to seeds showed that these fungi caused seed decay. Our results indicated that nursery soil cover may not be suitable
for
T. dolabrata var.
hondai seeds sown in nursery soil because of seed decay by pathogens.
Key words Seed decay - Germination percentage -
Thujopsis dolabrata var. hondai
- Soil covering