Physiological conditioning in sweet pepper seeds

Abstract

This study was carried out in the Seed Technology Laboratory, Crop Production Department of the Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz” in Piracicaba, São Paulo State, Brazil, from August to December, 2003, aiming to evaluate the efficiency of the physiological conditioning with potassium nitrate on sweet pepper seeds (Capsicum annuum L.). The treatments consisted of seeds soaked in solutions of –1,2 MPa and –1,5 MPa of potassium nitrate (KNO3), not soaked seeds (control samples), and seeds soaked in –1,1 MPa of polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) solution. The soaking times for each concentration of KNO3 were three, six, and nine days. For the PEG 6000 treatment, seeds were placed over blotting-paper sheets moistened with the solution for eight days. Seeds were evaluated through germination test, seed germination speed, seed germination under low temperature, and seed accelerated aging. Conditioning with KNO3 improved the germination performance of the seeds of sweet pepper.