Influence of Boron and Drought Simulation on Germinability and Hardseededness of Black Medick Seeds (Medicago lupulina L.)

Abstract

AbstractThis study deals with the determination of germinability of black medick (Medicago lupulina L.) seeds in conditions of different drought intensity induced by different concentrations of PEG 8000 solutions (0.2; 0.4; 0.6 mol). Four batches of seed were tested (Ekola 2–5). At the same time, the influence of boron, some other elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Mn) and compounds (starch, lipids and sugars) contents in black medick seeds on their germinability (percentages of germinated, dead and hard seeds) was evaluated. The effect of drought was manifested by germination which was reduced max. by 8% as compared with the control variant and was only partially significant. Statistically significant (P < 0.01) negative correlations (R = − 0.64) were recorded between germinability and the boron content in the seeds, and positive correlations were found between the percentages of hard seeds and the boron content in the seeds. The results show that the higher content of boron in the seeds of black medick increases the proportion of hard seeds at the expense of the germinated seeds percentages.