| Abstrakt: |
Aromatic and medicinal plant species having small seeds have field emergence problems due to low nutrient supply. Therefore, Pimpinella anisum seeds were hydro and osmoprimed with 100 mM MgCl2, CaCl2, and ZnCl2, for 2, 4, and 8 h each to compare their growth attributes during germination and seedling establishment stages. Nontreated seeds were used as control. Both hydro and osmo primed seeds were dried for 48 h before, they were sown in plastic trays in growth room conditions to see the impact of treatments on seedling emergence and growth. The maximum root length (12.90 cm), fresh weight (256.30 mg plant−1 ), and mean emergence time (MET) were recorded from 8 h MgCl2 primed seeds. Similarly, the maximum (97.50, and 98.00%) emergence percentage was observed using 8 h MgCl2 primed seeds and nontreated seeds (control treatment). The evaluation of parameters like chlorophyll contents and electrical conductivity showed the 8 h MgCl2 priming as the optimum treatment. The evaluation of parameters like chlorophyll contents and electrical conductivity showed the 8 h MgCl2 priming as the optimum treatment. The result suggests MgCl2 priming worked synergistically and improved seedling growth attributes under greenhouse conditions. The chlorophyll content ranged 25.94–35.69 SPAD unit. The highest chlorophyll content was obtained from the seedlings obtained from 4 h CaCl2 treatment, which were statistically similar to the chlorophyll contents of the seedlings obtained after 8 h MgCl2 treatment and nontreated seeds (control treatment). All other treatments showed inhibition in the chlorophyll contents and growth attributes of the seedlings. In conclusion, MgCl2 osmopriming treatments were significantly promotive and better compared to hydro-priming and osmopriming treatments including control treatment in terms of anise seeds germination and emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
