True potato seed of Atzimba × 104.12LB (intermediate dormancy) was dried to seed moisture contents ranging from 3.85 to 12.5% (dry wt basis) and was stored for 2 years at 30, 15 and 5°C. Seed was tested for various germination and seedling vigor criteria at 4 month intervals. Seed dormancy and viability were better preserved at seed moisture levels below 7% and as temperature decreased. High moisture (>9%) was lethal to seed stored at 30°C. TPS should be stored at <5% seed moisture content. Under this condition seed dormancy in the genotype studied was lost after about 12 months at 30°C.
organic mulches may be an effective cultural weed management option. Mulch thickness is an important consideration because the emergence of weed seedlings is inversely related to seed depth so the efficacy of weed control tends to increase with mulch
One possible influence film-coating may have on seeds is modifying water uptake and electrolyte leaking during imibibition. Film-coating is a seed treatment that can improve sweet corn germination, especially under cold soil conditions. Two shrunken-2 sweet corn varieties (`Even Sweeter' and `Sugar Bowl') were treated with a polymer film-coating and evaluated for water uptake patterns during imibibition. `Even Sweeter' is a low-vigor sweet corn, while `Sugar Bowl' is a high-vigor variety. Standard germination tests were performed according to AOSA rules and suggest film-coated seeds germinated at a slower rate than untreated seeds. After 4 days of imibibition, `Sugar Bowl' film-coated seeds had 5% germination, while untreated seeds had ≈20% germination. However, after 7 days, film-coated seeds had 94% germination with untreated seeds at 80% germination. Results were similar for `Even Sweeter'. Bulk electrical conductivity readings were taken over 24 h to determine the amount of electrolyte leakage during imibibition. Low-vigor `Even Sweeter' had 92% higher overall leakage than high-vigor `Sugar Bowl'. Additional conductivity readings were taken for both seed lots every 2 h for 12 h. Film-treated seeds leaked 15% less than untreated seeds for `Sugar Bowl'. However, `Even Sweeter' film-coated seeds actually leaked 17% more than the untreated seeds. In both cases, 70% of electrolyte leakage occurred within the first 12 h of imibibition. An imibibition curve was established for the two seed lots comparing untreated and film-coated seeds. During the first 6 h of water uptake, film-treated seeds weighed ≈50% more than the untreated seeds for both `Even Sweeter' and `Sugar Bowl'. Pathways for water uptake as influenced by film-coating shrunken-2 seeds will also be presented.
The effect of temperature on seedstalk development, seed yield and quality in carrot (Daucus carota L.) was investigated in growth chambers at constant day/night temperatures of 33/28, 28/23, 25/20, 23/18, 20/15, and 17/12 °C. Days to flowering, seedstalk height, number of umbels, and seed yield decreased linearly with increasing temperature from 17/12 to 33/28 °C. Continuous high temperature (33/28 °C) had a detrimental effect on germination as measured by a standard germination test and an accelerated aging test. Optimum germination of the progeny occurred at 20/15 °C; however, germination rate was faster when seeds matured at 23/18 °C. Seeds that developed at 33/28 °C produced seedlings with the lowest vigor, while those which developed at 20/15 °C produced seedlings with the highest vigor. Brief exposure of plants to 33/28 °C during anthesis or early seed development was as detrimental to seed yield as continuous exposure to 33/28 °C. Exposure to high temperature (33/28 °C) during late seed development had less effect on seed yield, and seed quality was improved. Progeny vigor was reduced greatly by seed development at continuous high temperature (33/28 °C), but was unaffected by brief exposure to 33/28 °C at anthesis, early, or late in seed development. These results suggest that high (33/28 °C) day/night temperatures during pollination, fertilization, or early stages of seed development can greatly reduce carrot seed yield and seed quality.
Abstract
Field tests involving 47 pairs of snap bean breeding lines, near-isogenic except for differences in seed color, demonstrated that colored-seeded sub-lines were superior to their white-seeded counterparts in emergence and seedling vigor. In 11 yield comparisons between colored- and white-seeded isogenic sub-lines, the colored-seeded sub-lines outyielded their white-seeded counterparts by an average of 67%. Covariance techniques were used to adjust yields to remove stand effects. The results suggested that differences in stand based on seed color was a major factor affecting yield.
than three seeds/fruit (data not shown). Those four selections were eventually removed as a result of excessive vigor, lack of productivity, or undesirable fruit. The ‘Pera 15’ trees were removed because of tree decline resulting from the bud union
Abstract
Garden bean seeds stored under high temperature (32.2°C) and relative humidity (90%) for periods up to 15 weeks showed a drop in germination after 9 weeks with the standard laboratory germination test while a recently developed vigor test for beans (Epicotyl wt measurement) showed a loss in vigor after only 3 weeks of storage. We conclude that this new testing procedure can be used to measure loss of vigor in bean seed stored under unfavorable conditions before a loss of viability is detected by the standard germination test.
ornamental flower but also has been endowed with rich spiritual connotation in Chinese culture. Camellia ‘Maozi’ flowers are small in size and have a rare light tone of purple ( Fig. 1C–E ). In addition, Camellia ‘Maozi’ shows strong hybrid vigor. It
Seed germination is a critical step to achieve economic success in a transplant operation. Total germination of a seed lot dictates total plant sales by the producer, while uniformity of germination dictates the quality of the transplant crop. Using high vigor seed will help to achieve uniform stands, as well as maximize stands, in the transplant house or field. In order to maintain the highest seed quality, transplant producers should store unused seeds at recommended temperature and relative humidity for the crop species. Methods to promote uniformity and optimum stands under a wide range of conditions include the use of seed priming, film coating with fungicides, and pelleting for ease of planting.
Membrane damage associated with rapid influx of water during imbibition can play a role in the poor emergence and seedling vigor associated with sweet corn germination. Film-coating as a seed treatment has been used to improve germination and vigor in sweet corn and this improvement may not be associated with changes in imbibition rate. Two seed lots of shrunken-2 variety sweet corn, low-vigor `Even Sweeter' and high-vigor `Sugar Bowl', were treated with a hydrophilic polymer film-coating and evaluated for differences in emergence and water uptake. Both cultivars were grown at 19, 21, and 26 °C with no effect on emergence due to film-coating. Imbibition curves were established for untreated and hydrophilic film-coated seeds. Film-coated seeds showed an 18% increase in fresh weight compared to untreated seeds for both cultivars during a 6-h period. Bulk conductivity tests resulted in no significant mean difference between untreated and hydrophilic-treated seeds after 24 h. These seed lots have been treated with a hydrophobic polymer and are currently being evaluated for cold temperature emergence and imbibition rates. Water entry during imbibition will also be compared for untreated sugary (su) and shrunken-2 (sh2) seeds using the fluorescent compound trisodium salt, 8-hydroxypyrene-1, 3,6-trisulfonic acid (HPTS).