Effects of osmotic conditioning treatments at different temperatures on mean germination time and rate of heliotropium greuteri

Abstract

Heliotropium is a good ornamental plant with pleasant fragrance and beautiful vegetative pattern in the nature. In seed propagation, there are some problems such as extended germination time and low germination rate. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of some selected osmotic conditioners on Heliotropium seeds. Osmotic conditioning (OC) was performed in seeds with humidification, water, methyl jasmonate (MeJA) (1.0 mM) and seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) extract (1:500 seaweed extract) for 1, 2 and 3 days at 20 °C and 30 °C. After the treatment, seeds were characterized for germination tests at 25 °C and 35 °C. Germination indexes, germination rates and mean germination times of seeds were determined. The treatment of water for 3 days gave the highest germination rate with 23 % when the lowest germination rate (4 %) was determined in the control group. When the mean germination times of Heliotropium seeds were examined, the earliest germination was observed humification 2 days treatment (8.3 days). So, OC treatments made with seaweed and methyl jasmonate made positive contributions to the germination of Heliotropium seeds.