Effect of Time of Cone Collection on Seed Germination and Seedling Vigour Index of Abies spectabilis (D. Don) Spach

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of time of cone collection on the germination of Abies spectabilis seeds. The seeds collected at 15 days interval (fortnightly basis) during September, 2011 to November, 2011 were subjected to germination testing. Significant differences were observed in germination percentage, moisture content of seeds and specific gravity of cones of Abies spectabilis collected during different collection period. The study revealed that seed collected during second fortnight of October recorded maximum germination (42.00%) with average seedling length (7.56cm) and seedling vigour index (318.60). At the time of optimum maturity, seed color was Brown Group 200B and moisture content of seed was 8.73% whereas cone colour was Blue Group 103A and specific gravity of cones was 0.64%. On the basis of present investigation, it is recommended that seeds of A. spectabilis should be collected during second fortnight of October before their dispersal in the natural forest.