LAVENDER SEED DORMANCY AND GERMINATION

The germination of seeds in genus Lavandula L., tested in the laboratory, shows a real heterogeneity.
This heterogeneity depends on the actual quality of seeds but also on the percentage of seeds said "to be dormant" and on the degree of dormancy of each individual seed in the sample.

Studies have been undertaken at the "Station nationale d’Essais de Semences". They have shown the favourable action of gibberellic acid, GA₃, applied at the beginning of test, at the dose of 200 ppm.

In the conditions of the experiments, the moist prechilling periods applied at a temperature between 3°C and 5°C, used alone or in combination with GA₃, lead to significantly higher germination as compared with the control and the percentage of normal seedlings generally increases with prechill duration.

Beyond the interest of these results for routine laboratory analyses other applications could be envisaged, especially in the horticultural and landscaping fields and perhaps in lavender cultivation from seeds.

Symposium on Seed Problems in Horticulture

A. Chavagnat

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1978.83.19