An Acid-Bath Technique to Break Seed Dormancy in Common Sunflower, Helianthus L. annuus (Asteraceae)
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2015
Abstract
The phenomenon of seed dormancy is widespread in plants and serves to prevent all or most of a given population from germinating at the “wrong” time, e.g., during an unusually mild fall in an area subject to typically harsh winters. Seed dormancy is an effective survival strategy in many plant populations, but may greatly complicate efforts to establish large cohorts of seedlings (groups of similar age or developmental stage) needed for re-search and other purposes. In an effort to break seed dormancy in common sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. (Asteraceae), we conducted experiments designed to compare germination times and overall germination success among groups of field-collected H. annuus seeds subjected to several treatments. Overall germination success during a 14-d period posttreatment was lowest among untreated controls and groups soaked in a disinfecting solution for 15-h (1.2% and 2.6% germination, respectively; P
Recommended Citation
Gandy, Y. P., Persans, M. W., & Summy, K. R. (2015). An Acid-Bath Technique to Break Seed Dormancy in Common Sunflower, Helianthus L. annuus (Asteraceae). Subtropical Agriculture and Environments, 66, 23–26.
Publication Title
Subtropical Agriculture and Environments