Germination, growth and dry matter accumulation of wild almond seedlings from stratified and scarified seeds
Rouhi, V.; Uddin, M.R.; Van Damme, P.
Communications in Agricultural and Applied Biological Sciences 70(2): 235-240
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 1379-1176 PMID: 16366316 Document Number: 592355
An experiment was conducted in Belgium, during January-March 2004 to study the effect of cold duration (45, 60, 75 and 90 days), temperature (0-1, 4-5 and 9-10 degrees C) and scarification (with and without scarification) on seed germination, growth and dry matter accumulation of wild almond (Amygdalus scoparia syn. Prunus scoparia). At 4-5 degrees C, the highest germination percentage was obtained at 90 days duration of cold treatment, whereas it was 51.7% for the same duration at 9-10 degrees C. Scarification did not necessarily yield better results than non-scarification even though at 4-5 degrees C scarified seeds showed higher germination than non-scarified seeds. Seedlings were significantly taller at 9-10 degrees C compared to 4-5 degrees C with respect to cold duration as well as scarification. Shoot length increased with increasing duration of cold treatment. At both temperatures, the highest and lowest leaf biomass values were found in the longest (90 days) and shortest (45 days) durations of cold treatment, respectively. Seedlings from scarified seeds under the longest cold treatment duration produced the highest leaf biomass values at 4-5 degrees C whereas at 9-10 degrees C, the highest leaf biomass production was found in seedlings from non-scarified seeds under the longest duration. A trend similar to that of leaf biomass was observed for stem biomass. Root biomass was zero at 4-5 degrees C whereas the highest root biomass was 109.05 mg per seedling under 45 and 90 days of cold treatment, respectively. The highest root biomass (240.98 mg per seedling) and lowest leaf biomass (102.20 mg per seedling) were observed from cold treatment for 90 and 45 days, respectively, at 9-10 degrees C. Root biomass was higher (111.60 mg per seedling) in scarified seed at 4-5 degrees C compared to non-scarified seeds, where this value was zero. On the other hand, root biomass was higher (221.38 mg per seedling) in non-scarified compared to scarified seeds (154.02 mg per seedling) at 9-10 degrees C.