Abstract

MENDEZ-NATERA, Jesús Rafael; YSAVIT-MARCANO, Lesaida  and  MERAZO-PINTO, José Fernando. Effect of hot water immersion on seed germination and seedling growth of three corn (Zea mays L.) cultivars under laboratory conditions. TIP [online]. 2007, vol.10, n.2, pp.56-64. ISSN 1405-888X.

In order to determine the quality of the seeds involved, this research was aimed at assessing the effect of hot water immersion on seed germination and seedling growth of three corn (Zea mays L.) cultivars under laboratory conditions. The experiment was carried out in the "Laboratorio de Semillas del Posgrado en Agricultura Tropical in Juanico, Maturín, Venezuela. A 3 x 5 factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with four replications was used. One factor consisted of five periods of hot water immersion at a temperature of 100 °С during 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 seconds, respectively. The other factor was constituted by the three corn cultivars (Cargill 633, Himeca 2003 and Criollo). The hot water immersion period which caused the most deteriorating conditions on seed germination was the one which lasted 8 seconds. In general, the characteristics under study showed more deterioration as the immersion periods lasted more. However, mild effects were observed on seedling height, number of seedling leaves and dry radicle weight of the cultivars Cargill 633 and Himeca 2003.

Keywords : Hot water immersion; seed deterioration; corn.