The Effects of Source of Priming and Post-priming Storage Duration on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth Characteristics in Wheat (Triticum aestivem L.)

This study was designed to investigate the effects of seed storing after priming on germination of two wheat cultivars (Cross Alborz and Sardari). The study consisted of five experiments. In experiments 1- 4 we tested seed priming with distilled water (hydro priming), potassium nitrate (KNO3), gibberellin (GA3), PEG-6000 (osmopriming) in different concentrations (50, 100 150 and 200 ppm for GA3) and (1%, 2%, 3% and 4% for KNO3) and times (12, 18, 24 and 30 hours). Germination tests were subsequently performed on all above mentioned seed priming methods. The best treatment (time and concentration of media) which emanated from experiments 1-4 was considered for experiment 5. In experiment 5, we tested the effects of storing duration after seed priming (0, 30, 45 and 60 days) on germination characteristics of wheat. Maximum stem and radicle length, stem and radicle dry weight and speed of germination in cv. Cross Alborz and cv. Sardari were observed in priming treatments when the seeds primed by GA3 50 ppm for 24h, KNO3 1% for 24h, hydropriming 12h and osmopriming 12h.The results showed that storing of primed seeds improved shoot and radicle length, shoot and radicle dry weight, germination percentage and speed of germination.