Sheared sugar beet with special reference to normal and abnormal germination

Tolman, B.; Stout, M.

Sheared sugar beet with special reference to normal and abnormal germination

1944

Tolman, B. | Stout, M.

A comparison of the germination of sheared sugar beet seed, whole seed balls, and naked seeds was made using blotters and soil in special glass germinators and also in the greenhouse bench. These tests showed that most naked seeds and 12 to 15% of the sheared seed germinated abnormally. This abnormal germination was evidenced by the fact that the cotyledons broke away from the starchy food reserve during the initial stages of germination and before the radicle had developed and become established. The cotyledons did not remain in a position to be pushed through the soil and there was also apparent some loss in geotropic response. As a result of these abnormalities very few seedlings from naked seeds and imperfect sheared seeds emerged from the soil when planted more than 1/2 inch deep. It was evident that blotter germination tests gave an erroneous impression of the percentage of seed recovered in the shearing process, unless care was taken to differentiate between normal and abnormal germination.

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