International Journal of Horticulture, 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 267-278 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 267 Research Article Open Access Evaluating the Impact of Different Growing Media on Germination Parameters and Seedling Growth of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicumL.) in Bhojpur, Nepal Raju Khatri 1, Dipesh Kumar Mandal 2 , Nitesh Adhikari 2, Preshna Basnet 3, Susmita Mishra3, Sushma Neupane3 1 Faculty of Agriculture, College of Natural Resource Management, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, 44200, Nepal 2 Faculty of Science and Technology, Ilam Community Agriculture Campus, Ilam, Purbanchal University, 57300, Nepal 3 Faculty of Science and Technology, G. P. Koirala College of Agriculture and Research Center, Purbanchal University, Gothgaun, Morang, 56600, Nepal Corresponding author: deepeshkumarmandal77@gmail.com International Journal of Horticulture, 2025, Vol.15, No.6 doi: 10.5376/ijh.2025.15.0027 Received: 09 Jun., 2025 Accepted: 08 Oct., 2025 Published: 20 Nov., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Khatri et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Khatri R., Mandal D.K., Adhikari N., Basnet P., Mishra S., and Neupane S., 2025, Evaluating the impact of different growing media on germination parameters and seedling growth of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in Bhojpur, Nepal, International Journal of Horticulture, 15(6): 267-278 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2025.15.0027) Abstract Tomato (Solanum lycopersicumL.) is one of the most widely cultivated and consumed vegetables globally, valued for its high nutritional content, market demand, and processing potential. However, low-quality seedlings due to improper nursery media selection often led to poor field establishment and reduced yields. To address this challenge, a study was conducted from January to March 2025, to evaluate the effects of different growing media on tomato seedling performance. The experiment involved nine treatments: T1 (Vermicompost), T2 (Cocopeat), T3 (Soil), T4 (FYM + Soil), T5 (Soil + Cocopeat), T6 (Vermicompost + Soil), T7 (Vermicompost + Cocopeat), T8 (Cocopeat + Soil + Vermicompost), and T9 (Vermicompost + FYM + Soil + Cocopeat). The findings revealed that T9 significantly enhanced all measured seedling growth parameters, including root length, shoot length, fresh weight, and dry weight, suggesting a superior growing environment due to balanced nutrient supply, aeration, and water retention. T8 and T6 also showed favorable early stem and leaf development, while T1 consistently underperformed due to poor structural and aeration properties. These results demonstrate the critical role of media composition in promoting early plant vigor and highlight the potential of integrated substrates in nursery management. The study holds substantial practical value for sustainable tomato cultivation, especially in resource-limited settings. By utilizing locally available components like vermicompost, FYM, cocopeat, and soil in strategic combinations, farmers and nursery operators can produce healthier seedlings with better post-transplant growth potential. Future prospects include field-scale validation, economic analysis, and exploring similar media optimization for other high-value vegetable crops. Keywords Tomato seedlings; Vermicompost; Cocopeat; Growing media; Seedling growth 1 Introduction Agriculture remains a fundamental part of Nepal’s economy and livelihood, engaging about 65.7% of the total population. However, despite such a high level of participation, agriculture contributes only 26.26% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with the vegetable sub-sector making up 19.44% of the agricultural GDP (AGDP) (Ali et al., 2020; MoALD, 2022). Vegetables occupy a significant area of 284,121 hectares in Nepal, yielding around 3,993,167 metric tons annually, with an average productivity of 14.01 metric tons per hectare (MoALD, 2022). Among the wide variety of vegetable crops cultivated, tomato (Solanum lycopersicumL.) is one of the most economically significant members of the Solanaceae family (Bhandari et al., 2016). Due to its wide culinary use—whether eaten fresh or processed into products like sauces, ketchup, and pickles—tomato holds the position of the second most important horticultural crop globally in terms of production (Chopra et al., 2017; Kumar et al., 2022). Tomato is believed to have originated in the Andean regions of South America and parts of Mexico, evolving from the wild ancestor Lycopersicon cerasiforme (Çelebi, 2019). Successful tomato cultivation begins with healthy and vigorous seedlings, as the initial growth stage—especially seed germination and early seedling development—plays a pivotal role in influencing overall crop health and yield potential (Atif et al., 2016; Vivek
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