Effects of Temperature and Gibberellic Acid (GA3) on seed Germination of Vicia sativa, Chenopodium album and Physalis minima

The interactions between temperature and GA3 are well known for their capacity to induce germination in dormant seeds of several weed plant species. In the current study, we investigated the effect of various temperature (10, 15, 20 and 25°C) and gibberellic acid (GA3) concentrations (50, 150, 250 and 350 ppm) on germination of Vicia sativa, Chenopodium album and Physalis minima seeds incubated under continuous dark or light were carried out in 8/16 hr light and dark. Germination counts were taken until Day 13. We found that incubation temperature and GA3 significantly enhanced seed germination, as maximum germination was observed for V. sativa (79% at 20°C), C. album (69.8% at 15°C), and P. minima (62% at 20°C) in such treatments. Exogenous GA3 significantly promoted germination of V. sativa, C. album and P. minima. It was found that GA3 was more effective in the presence of light as compared to dark condition and lowest germination was found in weed seeds at control.

Interaction effects of temperature and GA3 of different concentrations with light and darkness breaks the dormancy of winter weed species.