Drum Priming - A non-osmotic method of priming seeds
1996
Rowse, H.R. (Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne (United Kingdom))
A new seed priming method is described in which seeds were hydrated to a predetermined water content over a 1 day period, by placing them inside a horizontal rotating drum into which water vapour was released. The drum was mounted on an electronic balance, linked to a computer which monitored the seed water content, and controlled the production of water vapour so that at no time were the seeds visibly wet. Hydrated seeds were kept in a rotating drum for a further 14 days before being either sown immediately (non-dried seed) or dried to facilitate storage. Drum-primed seeds of ten leek cultivars germinated faster and more uniformly than seeds primed for the same period by placing them on paper saturated with a solution of polyethylene glycol (PEG) MW 20,000 with an osmotic potential of -1.5 MPa. A similar difference was observed when seeds primed by both methods were germinated at all combinations of 4 temperatures (5, 10, 15, and 20 deg C) and 5 osmotic potentials (0, -0.1, -0.2, -0.3, -0.4 MPa). Drum priming enables large quantities of seed to be primed without the use of large quantities of PEG solutions
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