Effect of soaking periods, gibberellic acid, and benzyladenine on pistachio seeds germination and subsequent seedling growth (Pistacia vera L.)‎

Abstract EN

A nursery experiment was conducted in the College of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Mosul, Ninevah, Iraq to evaluate the effects of soaking periods (12 and 24 hours), Gibberellic Acid (0, 100 and 200 mg.l-1 GA3) and Benzyladenine (0,50 and 100 mg.l-1 BA) on pistachio seeds germination and subsequent seedlings growth of Pistacia vera Ashoury cultivar.Soaking seeds for 12 hours in (200 mg.l-1 GA3 + 100 mg.l-1 BA) showed the highest germination percentage (88.5 %).

Better seedling growth parameters (seedling height and diameter) were obtained with seed soaking in 200 mg.l-1 GA3 for 12 hours, while the internode length was significantly improved by soaking seeds in 200 mg.l-1 GA3 for 24 hours.

Dry weights of seedling shoot and root were significantly increased by soaking seeds for 24 hours in (200 mg.l-1 GA3+100 mg.l-1 BA) and 24 hours in (200 mg.l-1 GA3), respectively.