Changing of seed quality of Sweet Pepper as affected by priming technique

Abstract

The objective of this experiment focused on the effect of seed priming methods on sweet pepper seedsafter accelerated aging. The experiment was conducted at Seed Technology Laboratory at Seed Processing Plant,Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University. The sweet pepper seeds were accelerated aging at 42oC with relativehumidity 100% for 10 days. Seed samples were taken on 0, 3 and 6 days and then soaked in priming solutionsat 15oC. The eight different chemical solutions with optimum concentration and soaking time were: 1) 200 mg/LVitamin C for 12 hours, 2) -1.5 MPa PEG6000 for 6 days, 3) 3% KNO3 for 6 hours, 4) 200nM NaCl for 12 hours,5) 1% KH2PO4 for 12 hours, 6) 2% KCl for 12 hours, 7) 1% KNO3 mixed with 1% KH2PO4 for 6 hours and8) 2cc/litre commercial chemical for 4 hours. The best selected chemical solution enhancing seed germination andgermination index were: 1) 200 mg/L Vitamin C for 12 hours, 2) -1.5 MPa PEG6000 for 6 days, 3) 3% KNO3 for6 hours, and 4) 1% KNO3 mixed with 1% KH2PO4 for 6 hours.; soaked in priming solution at 15oC. The resultsshowed that all conditions of seed priming significantly enhanced seed germination and germination index (P<0.01).Moreover, priming seeds with 200 mg/L Vitamin C and 1% KNO3 with 1% KH2PO4 had higher germinationpercentage in both laboratory and field conditions than other methods. Three day accelerated aging seeds and primedseeding with the Vitamin C solution had higher germination percentage by 15% (P<0.01). For low germinationseeds after 6 day accelerated aging, the prime seeding with KNO3 mixed with 1% KH2PO4 had higher germinationpercentage by 17 % compared to non-primed seeds (P<0.01).