AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE GERMINATION OF WHEAT SEED UNDER WATER, AS RELATED TO TEMPERATURE AND AERATION

Abstract

The seeds were germinated in nutrient solutions at 7 temperatures ranging from 12[degree] to 45[degree] C. at incubation periods of 6, 12, 18 and 24 hrs. and at aeration rates of nil, 1, 3, 6, 15, and 30 liters daily. Germination was recorded as accomplished when the seedcoat was ruptured and when the coleoptile was visible. Each test was performed 5 times. An increase of temp. gave an increased % of germination up to 30[degree] or 35[degree] for the shortest period and at about 24[degree] for the longest. Aeration treatment exerted little if any influence on the optimal temp. for any period. For 12[degree], 19[degree], 24[degree], and 30[degree] germination increased with longer incubation periods despite the amount of aeration treatment. Higher germinations resulted from more vigorous aeration treatments up to 3 or 6 liters of air per day and this relation was increasingly evident for progressively longer periods. The environmental complexes giving germination values above 90% consisted of a temp, of 24[degree], a duration of 24 hrs., and aerations of 6, 15, and 30 liters of air. The optimum environment giving the highest average hourly rate of seedlings was 30[degree], 12 hrs. and 30 liters, which gave seedlings at the rate of 6.2 per hr. That 6-hr. increment which gave the maximum seedling yield was the 2nd at 30[degree] and 30 liters. Seedlings from the experiments continued growth when transplanted to pots except a 50% loss of those seedlings resulting from the 45[degree] temp. germinations.