Influences of presowing treatments on the germination and emergence of fig seeds (Ficus carica L.)

Abstract

Seed germination of fig seeds is important for obtain seedlings with high variability in breeding studies, and for producing mosaic virus-free seedlings. This experiment was carried out to evaluated the effects of several treatments (priming with water for 24h, GA 3 at 500 and 1000 ppm for 24h, 3% KNO 3 for 24h, and stratification at 4C for 7, 14 and 21 days) on seed germination and emergence of 'Bursa Siyah' and 'Sarlop' fig cultivars. The application of GA 3 increased the germination and emergence of these fig seeds. The highest percentages of germination and emergence were obtained with GA 3 at 500 or 1000 ppm for both cultivars. The seed germination and emergence of the cultivar 'Bursa Siyah' were higher than observed with the 'Sarlop'. The application of GA 3 at 500 ppm or 1000 ppm reduced the time to germination and emergence from the seeds of both cultivars. In summary, the GA 3 treatments showed efficacy to overcome the dormancy of these fig seeds.