Tomato Early Seedling Height Control Using a Paclobutrazol Seed Soak

Abstract

<jats:p>Tomato seedling hypocotyls elongate rapidly after germination resulting in weak seedlings. The effects of 0, 250, 500, 750, or 1000 mg paclobutrazol (PB)/L seed soak and soaking times from 1 to 12 hours on tomato (<jats:italic>Solanum lycopersicum</jats:italic> L.) seed germination, seedling growth, and plant growth were tested. Adequate height control was obtained with 250 mg PB/L while soaking time did not affect seedling growth. In a second experiment, PB was tested at 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, or 250 mg PB/L soaking the seed for 1 hour. A concentration of PB at 100 mg·L<jats:sup>–1</jats:sup> provided optimum control of hypocotyl elongation with minimal residual effect on subsequent plant growth. In a third experiment, seed soaked at the different PB concentrations were germinated and grown under light intensities of 0.09, 50, 70, or 120 μmol·m<jats:sup>–2</jats:sup>·s<jats:sup>–1</jats:sup>. Seedlings grown under 0.09 μmol·m<jats:sup>–2</jats:sup>·s<jats:sup>–1</jats:sup> were not affected by PB treatment and did not develop an epicotyl. PB seed soak treatment gave greater growth suppression under 50 μmol·m<jats:sup>-2</jats:sup>·s<jats:sup>-1</jats:sup> than under the two higher light levels. Soaking tomato seeds in 100 mg PB/L for 1 hour prevented early hypocotyl stretch of tomato seedlings with no long term effects on plant growth. This treatment effectively prevented excessive hypocotyl elongation when seeds were germinated under low PAR while not over controlling elongation under high PAR conditions.</jats:p>

Chimeric Activators and Repressors Define HY5 Activity and Reveal a Light-Regulated Feedback Mechanism

“…Early seedling establishment is crucial for survival in many crops. For example, tomato plants with long hypocotyls are quite fragile, which can lead to the loss of many seedlings during mechanical planting (Brigard et al, 2006). Conversely, early elongation may aid competition against weeds.…”

Examination of morphological and molecular changes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seedlings with the application of tebuconazole

“…As a result of the literature review, investigates the effects of the application of tebuconazole to tomatoes and other vegetable species on their seedling quality was limited studies [Mohsin et al 2019, Bulut et al 2021. However, several studies investigating the effects of paclobutrazol and similar substances, which are included in triazol group similarly with tebuconazole, on vegetable seedling quality are available [Brigard et al 2006, Çopur and Sarı 2012, Geboloğlu et al 2015, Uçan 2019. Geboloğlu et al [2015] applied four different doses of paclobutrazole (50, 100, 200 and 500 ppm, respectively) to eggplant seedlings in 2 different seedling development stages and found that seedling height and stem height were significantly suppressed as a result of this application.…”

New Approach in Obtaining the Ideal Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) Seedling: Tebuconazole

“…There are studies investigating the effects of Paclobutrazol and similar substances, which belong to the Triazole group similar to tebuconazole, on vegetable seedling characteristics and quality (Brigard et al, 2006;Çopur and Sarı, 2011;Geboloğlu et al, 2015;Geboloğlu et al, 2016;Uçan, 2019). In a study conducted on eggplant, the tebuconazole applied at different doses significantly decreased the seedling length and stem length (Öztürk and Dursun, 2020).…”