Improving Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Guava under Protected Conditions by Pre-Sowing Chemical and Hormonal Seed Treatments

Author: Ajay Kumar Banyal*, Tarun Guleria and Sanjeev Kumar Banyal

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Abstract

Germination of the guava seeds is very poor, uneven and takes a long time because of the hard seed coats. Therefore, the present studies were carried out with the objective to reduce the difficulties in seed germination. Different pre-sowing seed dip treatments viz., GA3 @ 400 and 600 ppm for 24 hours, HCl @ 2.5 and 5.0 % for 2 minutes, H2SO4 @ 2.5 and 5.0 % for 2 minutes, KNO3 @ 0.5% and 1.0% for 24 hours, Cow urine @ 50 and 100 % purity for 24 hours and Control (direct sowing) in Completely Randomized Design with three replications were tried. It has been observed that among different pre-sowing treatments, when guava seeds were dipped in 1.0 % solution of KNO3 for 24 hours, resulted in maximum (83.00%) guava seed germination. However, minimum time for seed germination (18.67 days), maximum mean daily germination (3.09), survival percent (91.67 %) and growth characteristics viz., seedling height, seedling diameter and number of leaves at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after transplanting we

Keywords

Guava, seed, KNO3, GA3, germination.

Conclusion

The demand for the quality planting material of guava is increasing at faster pace across the whole country and it becomes hard to fulfill the requirement especially, seedling rootstock. Use of plant growth regulators/chemicals, that enhances the seed germination and their survival in fruit nurseries will boost the income of the growers. In the present study, it has been observed that guava seeds soaked in 600 ppm solution of GA3 for 24 hours found most effective for earliest seed germination (18.67 days), improving mean daily germination (3.09), survival percentage (91.67%), seedling height, seedling diameter and number of leaves. However, guava seeds soaked in 1.0 percent solution of KNO3 for 24 hours resulted in highest per cent seed germination (83.00%).

References

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How to cite this article

Ajay Kumar Banyal, Tarun Guleria and Sanjeev Kumar Banyal (2022). Improving Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Guava under Protected Conditions by Pre-Sowing Chemical and Hormonal Seed Treatments. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(1):