SEED GERMINATION AND SUBSEQUENT SEEDLING GROWTH OF SCARIFIED SEEDS OF CAROB ( Ceratonia siliqua, L.) AS AFFECTED BY DIFFERENT PRE-SOWING TREATMENTS

El-Baz,, El. El. T.

doi:10.21608/jpp.2003.252929

SEED GERMINATION AND SUBSEQUENT SEEDLING GROWTH OF SCARIFIED SEEDS OF CAROB ( Ceratonia siliqua, L.) AS AFFECTED BY DIFFERENT PRE-SOWING TREATMENTS

Document Type : Original Article

Author

El. El. T. El-Baz,

Pomology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University

10.21608/jpp.2003.252929

Abstract

Scarification and pre-soak treatments with water (25°C , 35°C), Kinetin (10,30 ppm), thiourea (0.015% , 0.030%) and gibberellic acid, GA₃ (200 , 400 ppm) solutions had a pronounced effects on germination and growth of carob ( Ceratonia siliqua, L.) during the two successive seasons of 2000 and 2001. Compared with control germinating seeds, highest final germination percentage was attained in that of pre-soaking scarified seeds in water for 48 hrs at 35°C (85.5 %), Kinetin at 10 ppm (82.1 %), Kinetin at 30 ppm (81.0 %) and thiourea at 0.015% (74.4 %). The values of germination rate index (G.R.I.) were faster in the second season than in the first one. Also, the obtained values of germination velocity coefficient (G.V.C.) revealed that such treatments as T₃ (soaking scarified carob seeds into water at 25°C for 48 hrs), T₅ (soaking scarified carob seeds into water at 25°C for 48 hrs), T₇ (soaking scarified carob seeds into thiourea 0.015%), T₉ and T₁₀ (soaking scarified carob seeds into GA₃ at 200 and 400 ppm) accelerated the germination process than the control. The effect of treatments was extended to the rate of vegetative growth of subsequent seedlings. Since, the strongest seedlings were coincided with those high in their germination parameter values. Moreover, biochemical changes in the seeds during early germination stage gave results partially explained the effect of different treatments on seed germination and subsequence seedling growth.

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