Physical characteristics and the best method for germination of Pistacia atlantica and P.khinjuk seeds were studied in a Complete Randomized Block Design, with 4 treatments and 4 replications. The seeds of P. atlantica collected from Firoozabad and Neyriz while those of P. khinjuk seeds were from Mamasanie in Fars province. The treatments were cooling, acid, acid + cooling and control. The studied factors were weight, size, moisture content, germination and healthiness of seeds. Results showed that the weight of 1000 seeds of P.atlantica from Firoozabad and Neyriz and P.khinjuk from Mamasani were 314.8 g, 243.211 g, and 87.038 g, respectively. The means of size (length, width and thickness) of P.atlantica from Firoozabad was 9.3, 7.0, 5.5 mm, respectively. The size of Neyriz seeds was 9.0, 6.2, 5.3 mm and that of P.khinjuk from Mamasani was 6.9, 5.7, 4.6 mm. The maximum and minimum rate of germination in Firoozabad seeds were 76% and 20% related to acid+ cooling and control treatments. In seeds of Neyriz the mentioned rates were 65.5% and 38.5% related to cooling and acid treatments. The P.khinjuk seed lot collected from Mamasani showed no germination.

The objective of this study was to investigate the variation of Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.; CMV) seed quality after flowering. We tagged individual open flowers of CMV at the day of maximum flowering (11 May) in Seoul, Korea. Seed samples were harvested serially at 15, 20, 25 and 30 days after flowering (DAF). To compare with dried seeds, non-dried seeds were tested immediately after harvest and the remaining seeds were placed at room temperature for 4 weeks. Seed length, 1000 seed weight, moisture content, germination rate (GR), mean germination time (MGT), germination speed (GS), germination performance index (GPI) and physical dormancy rate (PDR) were investigated.

This paper presents the results of research on the influence of laser and magnetic field stimulation and the combination of both stimulants on the process of germination of buckwheat cv. Kora seeds. Germination tests were carried out in a controlled environment chamber with a stable temperature of 21 deg C, stable humidity and without a source of light. The curves obtained during the experiment were described based on a simulation model. The applied physical stimulation factors affected the germination rate of buckwheat seeds, but they did not increase the final number of germinated seeds

This research studied 16 ratio of banana stalk and paper fibers to find a suitable ratio for cultivating seed material. The study compared the physical qualification, the percentage of germination and growth of green grain with the existing cultivating seed material. The research found that the suitable ratio between find fiber of banana stalk and paper fiber was 25 percent and 75 percent, respectively. The physical qualification of cultivating seed material were 8.24 g in dry weight, 34.64 cubic cm in volume and 26.44 g of water contained in cultivating seed material. The percentage of germination by growing green grain was 96.67 percent, the high of green grain was 15.33 cm and the dry weight of green grain was 0.43 g.

This study analyzed physical and chemical characteristics of peat soil to use peat soil as the materials fur pot media and investigated seedling quality of horticultural plants in order to use peat soil as the raw materials fur pot media. The summary of the results is as follows; The chemical characteristics of peat soil, which is main ingredient of pot media are as follows; pH was 4.9, EC was less than 2.0 dsㆍm-¹, which interferes the growth of the plant and organic ingredient was 33%. When looking into the germination characteristics of plants according to the mixture of pot media, red pepper showed 54.2% speed of germination and 97% germination rate in peat soil single treatment. Therefore the peat soil was appropriate for the pot media for red pepper. In case of cucumbers, in the 50 : 50 treatment of main ingredient (peat soil) and auxiliary ingredients (vermiculite, peat moss and perlite) they showed 100% speed of germination and 100% germination rate.

Garcinia kola is highly used as chew-stick for dental care in West Africa, but it is nearly commercially extinct in nature. To help find methods to increase rate and percentage of germination, we investigated its seed germination responses by using several collections and pre-treatments. Seeds processed from 6-week old green fruits did not germinate, whilst those of 10-week old partly-mature, at the intermediate stage through full development, germinated 46%. Seeds from orange mature fruits reached maximum 54-62% germination. Radicles emerged 6 weeks after sowing and normal germination with emergence of the primary single shoot growth occurred after 12 weeks. There was no significant difference (P >= 0.05) between germination responses of seeds from Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. Seeds did not germinate when dried to below ca. 30% MC. De-coating seeds or soaking intact seeds in a 70% ethanol solution increased germination to 82-92%, and also increased germination rate; however germination was not uniform. Because difficulties in germinating these seeds stem from the physical presence of the seed coats and the slow growth of the embryos contained therein, we recommend that fresh seeds from mature fruits be de-coated and immediately sown in preferably, an aerated medium (e.g., sawdust) for cultivation.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There is considerable confusion in the literature concerning impermeability of seeds with 'hard' seed coats, because the ability to take up (imbibe) water has not been tested in most of them. Seeds of Opuntia tomentosa were reported recently to have a water-impermeable seed coat sensu lato (i.e. physical dormancy), in combination with physiological dormancy. However, physical dormancy is not known to occur in Cactaceae. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if seeds of O. tomentosa are water-permeable or water-impermeable, i.e. if they have physical dormancy. METHODS: The micromorphology of the seed coat and associated structures were characterized by SEM and light microscopy. Permeability of the seed-covering layers was assessed by an increase in mass of seeds on a wet substrate and by dye-tracking and uptake of tritiated water by intact versus scarified seeds. KEY RESULTS: A germination valve and a water channel are formed in the hilum-micropyle region during dehydration and ageing in seeds of O. tomentosa. The funicular envelope undoubtedly plays a role in germination of Opuntia seeds via restriction of water uptake and mechanical resistance to expansion of the embryo. However, seeds do not exhibit any of three features characteristic of those with physical dormancy. Thus, they do not have a water-impermeable layer(s) of palisade cells (macrosclereids) or a water gap sensu stricto and they imbibe water without the seed coat being disrupted. CONCLUSIONS: Although dormancy in seeds of this species can be broken by scarification, they have physiological dormancy only. Further, based on information in the literature, it is concluded that it is unlikely that any species of Opuntia has physical dormancy. This is the first integrative study of the anatomy, dynamics of water uptake and dormancy in seeds of Cactaceae subfamily Opuntioideae.

Rice is subjected to considerable number of stresses during storage. Out of ten rice cultivars, four were selected on the basis of physical purity, high germination and minimum mycoflora. The seeds of these four cultivars namely Pusa 44, PRH 10, Jaya and Pusa Sugandh 2 were treated with three plant extracts (Piper bet/e, Allium sativum, Calotropis procera) at 0.5% and 1% concentrations, one phytochemical (geraniol), two antagonists (Kalisena SO, Trichoderma harzianum) and two fungicides (vitavax 200 and carbendazim SOWP).Seed germination, seedling vigour and seed health of above said cultivars were observed at an interval of 60 days. Seed treatment with leaf extract of Piper betle (0.5%) increased seed germination and seedling vigour and decreased mycoflora even after six months of storage. P. bet/e 0.5% extract was found as a potent biopesticide against most of the storage and field fungi associated with rice seeds . Extract from the stem of Calotropis procera (1%) and Geraniol (1%) had phytotoxic property however lower concentration (0.5%) showed positive response.

A variety of physical treatment methods are able to kill pathogens on and in seeds non-selectively. In all cases, the application of these methods requires optimisation of the relevant treatment parameters such as temperature, treatment time or energy dose. The optimum treatment effect is achieved when the selected parameters induce a maximum reduction of infestation without relevant impairment of germination capacity and plant growth. It has been confirmed that different physical measures can be used for the control of seed-borne pathogens. The “classical” hot water treatment method is suitable for a wide range of seeds. Further procedures like the hot air seed treatment method “Thermoseed®”, the vacuum-steam treatment method Steamlab, and others are also suitable.

Vitrification is a physical process by which a concentrated aqueous solution solidifies into stable amorphous glass at a sufficiently low temperature. This process eliminates the potentially damaging effect of intra- and extracellular crystallization in cryopreservation of plants and animal cells. Sterculia cordata embryos were cryopreserved using a vitrification technique. The embryos were precultured for three days on MS media supplemented with sucrose (0.35, 0.55 and 0.75 M) and treated with loading solution (LS) and plant vitification solution 2 (PVS2) for one to three hours before storing in liquid nitrogen. Their germinationwas assessed before and after cryopreservation. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the sucrose pregrowth medium, LS and PVS2 pretreatments were not detrimental to the germination of embryos. However, sucrose and LS pretreatments alone were not sufficient for successful cryopreservation in contrastto the high germination (≥ 80%) achieved with PVS2 treatment.