Standardization of Suitable Pre-treatments to Break Dormancy of Queen Palm (Livistona rotundifolia) Seeds
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Queen palm (Livistona rotundifolia) is a popular hermaphroditic palm which has the highest
demand as a pot plant. It requires a shady sheltered place in the sub-tropics and humid, tropical
areas.It is a palm which only propagates from seeds and also disreputable in the nursery trade
for slow and uneven seed germination mainly because of hard and impermeable seed coat.The
hard seed coat prevents imbibition and gaseous exchange that leads to physical dormancy. It has
been estimated that over 25% of all palm species having less than 20% total germination
(Tomlinson, 1990). Due to the often slow and uneven germination of seeds, there is a great deal
of interest to develop a technique to soften the hard seed coat that might result in more even
rates of germination. Therefore, an experiment was carried out to standardize the best treatment
to overcome the dormancy and to attain higher germination potential.
Methodology
This experiment was carried out in a shade house at the Omega Green (Pvt.) ltd, Negambo
which is in the Low country Wet Zone of Sri Lanka from May to September 2013.The seed
samples obtained from numerous arbitrarily selected trees in Godigamuwa area and samples of
different maturity levels were tested for viability. Seeds were assessed for germination behavior
and seedling characters with four pretreatments. Treatments were T 1- Presoaking treatment in
cold water for 12 hours (Control), T 2- Hot water soaking treatment in 55 to 60 C hot water for 2
minutes and subsequently soaked in water for 12 hours, T 3- Mechanical Treatment with
hammer, and T4-Chemical Treatment (seeds were treated with 10% Na2HOCl solution for 10 to
30 minutes and soaked in water for 12 hours).Seeds were soaked for 7 days in water prior to the
dormancy breaking treatments. Treated seeds were sown in seed beds containing coir dust, sand
1:1 ratio as medium. These treatments were arranged in Single Factor Complete Randomized
design (CRD) with four treatments in four replicates. Seed germination behavior and seedling
characters were measured after first month of sawing. Four month aftersowing, counts were
made and germination expressed as percentage of seeds which produce normal seedlings. After
germination count twenty random seedlings from each treatment were measured for their shoot
and root length. Vigor index was calculated as prescribed by ISTA (1985).
Description
Keywords
Seeds, Pot plant, Agriculture, Export Agriculture, Plant Biology