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African mustard (Brassica tournefortii) germination in southern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gurjeet Gill
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy Campus, South Australia, Australia 5371
Christopher Preston
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, South Australia, Australia 5064

Abstract

Germination of African mustard seeds collected from southern Australia was not influenced by light conditions at the optimum temperature of 20/12 C. However, seed germination was inhibited by light at the lower temperature (15/9 C). Presence of light increased the sensitivity of seeds to low temperature, as well as salt and osmotic stress. In dark conditions, seed germination was relatively unaffected at a low level of salinity (80 mM NaCl) but decreased even at 10 mM NaCl in light/dark conditions. In the dark, seed germination was unaffected up to an osmotic potential of −0.6 MPa but declined thereafter. Seeds of African mustard germinated over a broad range of pH from 4 to 10. Seed germination was stimulated by potassium nitrate (from 0.005 to 0.04 M) and gibberellic acid (0.001 M). Seedling emergence of African mustard was the greatest (51%) for seeds buried at 1 cm but no seedlings emerged from seeds placed at a depth of 5 cm. At the end of the growing season, seed decay (77 to 87%) and dormant (12 to 18%) components were similar among different seed burial depths. Information gained in this study will be important in developing a better understanding of the requirements for African mustard germination and emergence.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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