Time, Temperature and Germination of Pearl Millet (Pennisetum typhoidesS. & H.)

Methods of analysing the response of germination to constant temperature are extended to alternating temperatures. The analysis is illustrated for seeds of pearl millet (Pennisetum typhoides S. & H.) germinated on a thermal gradient plate in pairs of alternating temperatures ranging from 15°C to 47°C. Alternating temperatures had a small but systematic effect on germination rate such that below 42 °C, alternations in temperature had no effect on the maximum fraction of seeds which germinated in the population, but increases in temperature amplitude from zero to ±8 °C caused a small but systematic increase in the rate of germination.