SALAC, LEONARDO M., AUGUST 2021. GERMINATION AND INITIAL GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BANABA _ {Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.)Pers]|SEEDS USING DIFFERENT PRE-TREATMENT METHODS. Pampanga State Agricultural University, Magalang, Pampanga. Adviser: DARWIN E. TOTAAN, Ph. D. The study was conducted from April 2021 to July 2021 at Barangay, Camba, Arayat Pampanga. The study aimed to determine the best pre-treatment and time of exposure that can enhance the percentage germination and to determine the effects of these pre-treatment to the initial growth of Banaba under forestry programme. The experiment was laid in RCBD design with three replications. For the analysis, one way ANOVA was employed with treatments as the factor of concern. LSD was run to determine which treatments produced significantly higher result than the other treatments. The result showed that treatments did not significantly differ from control, and treatments were not different from each other (at 5% significance level) both in terms of germination parameters and growth parameters. As per the mean, seeds treated with Hydrochloric acid for 12 hrs. Then soak for another 6 hrs. In tap water (T5) consistently have the highest mean particularly for germination percentage 77.33%, germinative capacity 52.67% and germination energy 57.33. This was followed by the control with germination percentage of 74.00%, germinative capacity 49.67% and germination energy 53.33%. Meanwhile, seeds soaked in tap water 24 hours had the lowest mean in terms of germination percentage, germinative capacity and germinative energy, with values of 50.67%, 45.33%, and 25.33% respectively. The effects of pre-treatments on growth parameters were also insignificant. Growth parameters, including Plant height, number of leaves and stem diameter were not significant across treatments. In terms of Plant height (cm). The seedlings under -T5 is consistently have the highest mean particularly for day 0-45. day 0 with a mean of 11.77 cm, day 15 with a mean of 13.56% cm, day 30 with a mean of 15.33% cm, and day 45 with a mean of 17.12% cm.In number of leaves, T3 is the highest number of leaves produce in day 0-45. day 0 mean of 7.57, day15 mean of 9.50, day 30 mean of 11.15 and day 45 mean of 12.50 and followed by the treatment 4 from the day 0-45. day 0 mean of 7.13, day 30 mean of 9.12, day 30 mean of 10.45, and day 45 mean of 11.45. In terms of stem diameter, T5 is consistently highest within the 45 days initial growth period with the mean of, day 0 mean of 1.30 mm, day 15 mean of 1.92 mm, day 30 mean of 2.77 mm, while day 45 a mean 3.35 mm respectively.