Effect of seed priming with plant growth regulators and temperature on Withania somnifera L. DUNAL

Abstract

Seeds of Indian ginseng (Withania somnifera var. Poshita and Jawahar-20) were exposed to various pre-soaking treatments (24,48 and 72 hours) with different concentrations of three growth regulators (GA3, IBA, and IAA) ranges from 0.25 to 150 ppm at different temperatures (22, 25 and 280C) to observe the combined effect of these factors on germination. Exposure at 280C with 100ppm GA3 for 24 hours soaking time and 125 ppm GA3 with 72 hours soaking time showed most synergistic effect on germination in J20 (76.66%) and Poshita (73.33%), respectively. Though IBA and IAA also showed significant increase in germination in both the varieties but it was not as effective as GA3. Study concluded that growth regulators and appropriate temperatures play a synergistic role in breaking the seed dormancy by influencing various metabolic activities at this moment.