Abstract

ALVAREZ MEDINA, Adán; MARTINEZ SOLIS, Juan; RODRIGUEZ PEREZ, Juan Enrique  and  PENA ORTEGA, Margarita Gisela. Relationship between the physiological quality tests of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seeds and the emergence in seedbeds. Rev. Chapingo Ser.Hortic [online]. 2011, vol.17, n.spe2, pp.57-62. ISSN 2007-4034.

Standard germination test is used in seed industry to evaluate seed quality; however, since it is conducted under favorable conditions for the occurrence of germination, sometimes the estimated results are quite different from those observed in field. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify the vigor test more correlated to seedling emergence at field conditions. Eleven tomato varieties were subjected to a standard germination test, five vigor tests. Seedling emergence in open field and in polystyrene trays under greenhouse conditions was evaluated at Universidad Autónoma Chapingo. A completely randomized experimental design with four repetitions of 25 seeds was used. The evaluated characters were: germination and emergence percentage, speed of germination and emergence, shoot and root length, and seedling dry weight. The accelerated aging test was the most accurate on predicting emergence in seedbed conditions; whereas the emergence test in trays in a greenhouse showed statistical similarity with the cold test and the ammonium chloride test. The response of the varieties depended on seed quality and the interaction with the evaluation test used.

Keywords : Vigor; germination; cold test; accelerated aging; ammonium chloride test.

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