Improving Papaya Seedling Emergence by Matriconditioning and Gibberellin Treatment

Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) seeds germinated poorly at 25C in the presence of gibberellin (GA4+7) or following matriconditioning at 25C for 4 days. However, a combined treatment of matriconditioning and GA4+7 for 4 days synergistically promoted germination and seedling emergence. Drying the seeds after conditioning reduced the percentage of seedling emergence in the combined treatment involving 400 μm GA4+7 only. Combining matriconditioning with 100 or 200 μm GA4+7could effectively reduce germination time and improve seedling emergence and is recommended as a standard procedure for testing papaya seed germination.