Emergence Rate and Initial Growth of Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour) in Relation to Seeds Sizes

Abstract

The fruit plant ‘Longan’ is considered as being native to Asia and is at present commercially explored in some regions. The objective of this work was to study the influence of seed size on seed emergence and initial seedling growth. The experiment was carried out using a randomized block design (DBC), with three treatments, namely, the seed sizes at seedling emergence according to their longitudinal diameter: small, medium and large. Each plot was composed of six seeds and five replications per treatment. The following characteristics were evaluated: emergence speed index, average time, percentage and relative frequency of emergence, leaf number, stem diameter, plant height, shoot dry mass and root dry mass. Seeds of medium and large size are those that presented satisfactory results for the characteristics related to seed emergence. The same ones stood out in relation to the small seeds for the variables percentage, average time, average speed and emergence speed index. Small seeds are not recommended for the production of ‘Longan’ seedlings, given the long period of time to emerge and the low probability of the seedlings establishing satisfactorily in the field. The medium and large seeds were the most promising for the variables number of leaves, stem diameter, plant height, dry shoot mass and dry root mass.Therefore, according to the conditions in which the present work was conducted, the use of medium and large seeds for the production of ‘Longan’ seedlings is suggested.