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The effect of sow depth on germination and early growth of Pericopsis elata and Terminalia ivorensis was investigated in the nursery of the Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, University of Benin, Benin City. Four hundred and eighty de-winged seeds of both species were sown into polypots at 0cm, 3cm, 6cm and 9cm depth respectively. Nine hundred and sixty polypots were filled with topsoil and stacked in a field experiment containing 240 pots arranged into 4 columns. Ten polypots each were arranged into 24 row-block for each column. Each species had three replications per treatment (sow depth) in each of the 4 columns. Plumule emergence per day in each treatment was observed with respect to germination while the growth variables measured for seedlings were seedling height, number of leaves, and collar girth. The experiment was a randomized complete block design. Germination was first observed on the 5th day after sowing for Pericopsis elata; and on the 12th day germination was observed for Terminalia ivorensis. Results show that 0cm depth of P. elata had high number of percentage germinant of 31.67% while 45% germinant was recorded for T. ivorensis seeds at the same sow depth. The least number of germinant was recorded at 9cm depth for P. elata and T. ivorensis seeds making 2.5% respectively. Seed germination of P. elata and T. ivorensis sown at 0cm depth gave better germination than other sow depths. The sow depth influenced the growth of plant variables on the seedling growth especially on the height and number of leaves. The experiment revealed that seedling of P. elata sown at 6cm depth had the best average height growth of 13.42cm which was followed closely by seedlings at 0cm depth (13.28cm height) while the least average height growth of 5.11cm recorded for T. ivorensis at 9cm sow depth. At the end of 16 weeks of germination, P. elata and T. ivorensis sown at 6cm depth produced more average leaves (9.4 and 14.82cm respectively) compared to seedlings sown at other depths. The investigation revealed that sow depth greatly influenced seed germination of both species as the germination percentage significantly decreased with the increasing soil depth.
