Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

W. AUFHAMMER, A. M. STEINER, S. ZABORSZKY and J. GÖBEL:

Effects of seed treatments with growth retardants on germination and field emergence of winter barley and winter rape

Summary

In connection with problems of establishing sowings under faba bean stands the delay of germination and field emergence of winter barley and winter rape seeds treated with growth retardants was investigated. Seeds were treated with differently concentrated solutions of Etephon, CCC, Tetcyclacis, Paclobutrazol, BAS 111 06, Abscisic acid and LAB 173711. Using paperrolls for winter barley seeds and Petri-dishes for winter rape seeds, respectively, the germination rates were measured. In pots filled with soil the field emergence rates of both species were determined. Depending on the retardant and the concentration, the beginning of germination in rolls and dishes was delayed up to two weeks. In the pot trials with soil, the delay did not exceed five days. Along with this delay often substantial reductions of the final germination and the field emergence, respectively, and the dry masses of the seedlings occured. Particularly, the final germination percentages of variously treated winter rape samples remained below 80 %. Nevertheless promising aspects to optimize treatments resulted encouraging further investigations. Key-words: seed treatments, growth retardants, winter barley, winter rape.