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Stimulation of celery seed germination and seedling growth with combined ethephon, gibberellin and polyethylene glycol seed treatments

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Abstract

The upper-temperature limit for germination of cv. Celebrity celery seeds incubated in darkness in laboratory tests was slightly raised following a seed soak with a mixture of the gibberellins A4 and A7 + ethephon (G + E) but more so by osmotic priming with polyethylene glycol (PEG). However, the best effects were obtained with a combination of growth regulator and priming treatments. Incorporation of growth regulators into the PEG was more effective than soaking seeds in G + E solutions either before or after osmotic priming. In glasshouse tests, seedling emergence was more rapid, percentage emergence was higher and seedling weight was greater from seeds treated with PEG either alone or in combination with G + E than from untreated seeds, water-soaked seeds or seeds given G + E soaks before or after PEG treatment.

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Brocklehurst, P.A., Rankin, W.E.F. & Thomas, T.H. Stimulation of celery seed germination and seedling growth with combined ethephon, gibberellin and polyethylene glycol seed treatments. Plant Growth Regul 1, 195–202 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00036998

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00036998

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