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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #65469
Title: EFFECT OF SEED TREATMENT ON GERMINATION AND EMERGENCE OF THREE WARM-SEASON GRASSES

Author
item Voigt, Paul
item Tischler, Charles

Submitted to: Journal of Range Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/5/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Seed dormancy of freshly harvested grass seed can be very high and can result in low germination and poor establishment. Seed treatments can sometimes alleviate this problem. However, no single treatment is useful for all grasses. Sulfuric acid was an effective treatment that increased the germination and establishment of kleingrass. Sulfuric acid also broke the dormancy of weeping and wilman lovegrass seed and allowed them to germinate. However, it damaged their seed to the extent that many lovegrass seedlings died between germination and establishment. Treatment of weeping lovegrass seed with the chemical 2-chloroethanol was very effective in increasing germination, emergence, and establishment of that species. However, because 2-chloroethanol is toxic to humans, treatments with that chemical must be made in a laboratory fume hood. Neither chemical was very effective in increasing establishment of wilman lovegrass.

Technical Abstract: Excessive levels of seed dormancy can hinder stand establishment and delay progress of genetic and plant improvement studies. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of two chemical seed treatments on germination and on emergence and survival of three warm-season grasses. Freshly harvested seed of kleingrass (Panicum coloratum L.) weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula [Schrad.] Nees), and wilman lovegrass (Eragrostis superba Peyr.) were treated with concentrated H**2SO4 or a 2-chloroethanol sodium hypochlorite (CHL) solution and then germinated on blotters or planted in a commercial peat-vermiculite mix. The three grasses responded differently to acid and CHL treatment. Acid treatment increased germination of all three species but did not increase the emergence and/or two-week establishment of weeping or wilman lovegrass. Seedlings were lost after successful germination, apparently from chemical injury to the caryopsis, not from fungal attack during the germination process. Weeping lovegrass responded to CHL treatment with increased germination and emergence. Wilman lovegrass did not respond well to either chemical.