Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T14:22:18.993Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of soil moisture and temperature on seedling emergence from natural and pre-germinated onion seeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

W. E. Finch-Savage
W. E. Finch-Savage
Affiliation:
National Vegetable Research Station, Wellesbourne, Warwick, CI'35 9EF
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The emergence of seedlings from natural, germinating and selected uniformlygerminated onion seeds was compared in a range of changing patterns of soil moisture. The timing, spread and amount of seedling emergence from seeds in all three treatments were affected by the timing of water availability in the seed bed and these effects differed between treatments.

The rate of seedling emergence in all three treatments under non-limiting soil moisture conditions was correlated with mean temperature, but this relationship was obscured in irrigation treatments where water stress occurred. However, if the seed bed was moist at sowing irrespective of subsequent moisture stress the reciprocals of the time to the start, time to 50% and time to the end of seedling emergence from uniformly germinated seeds were correlated with mean temperature (r > 0·87, D.F. 27).

The results show that if the seed bed is irrigated prior to sowing and soil moisture is maintained during the first 3 days following sowing high levels of seedling emergence with both predictable timing and uniformity can be achieved by sowing uniformlygerminated seeds. Seedling emergence from natural and germinating seeds was much less predictable.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 107 , Issue 2 , October 1986 , pp. 249 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Benjamin, L. R. (1982). Some effects of different times of seedling emorgence, population density and seed size on root size variation in carrot populations. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 98, 537–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durrant, M. G. (1981). Some causes of the variations in plant establishment. Proceedings of Institut International de Recherches Betteravières 44th Winter Congress 1981, pp. 1–6.Google Scholar
Finch-Savage, W. E. (1984). Effects of fluid drilling germinating onion seeds on seedling emergence and subsequent plant growth. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 102, 461–468.Google Scholar
Gray, D. (1981). Fluid drilling of vegetable seeds. Horticultural Reviews 3, 1–27.Google Scholar
Gulliver, R. L. & Heydecker, W. (1973). Establishment of seedlings in a changeable environment. In Seed Ecology (ed. Heydecker, W.), pp. 433–462. London: Buttenvorths.Google Scholar
Hakansson, I. & von Poloar, J. (1984). Experiments on the effect of seedbed characteristics on seedling emergence in a dry weather situation. Soil Tillage Research 4, 115–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hegarty, T. W. (1973). Temperature relations of germination in the field. In Seed Ecology(ed. Heydecker, W.), pp. 411–431. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Hegarty, T. W. (1976). Field establishment of some vegetable crops: response to a range of soil conditions. Journal of Horticultural Science 51, 133–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hegarty, T. W. & Royle, S. M. (1978). Soil impedance as a factor reducing crop seedling emergence, and its relation to soil conditions at sowing, and to applied water. Journal of Applied Ecology 15, 897–904.Google Scholar
Lipe, W. N. & Skinner, J. A. (1979). Effects of sowing pre-germinated onion seeds in cold soil on time of emergence, maturity and yield. HorlScience 14, 238–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orchard, T. J. (1977). Estimating the parameters of plant seedling emergence. Seed Science and Technology 5, 61–69.Google Scholar
Roberts, H. A. (1984). Crop and weed emergence patterns in relation to time of cultivation and rainfall. Annals of Applied Biology 105, 263–273.Google Scholar
Veverka, K. (1983). Effect of the pre-germination phase in a dry seed bed on the subsequent germination of sugar boot. Zeitschrift für Acker- und Pflanzenbau 152, 354–363.Google Scholar
Walker, A. & Barnes, A. (1981). Simulation of herbicide persistence in soil; a revised computer model. Pesticide Science 12, 123–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watt, L. A. & Whalley, R. D. B. (1982). Establish-ment of small-seeded perennial grasses on black clay soils in north-western New South Wales. Australian Journal of Botany 30, 611–623.Google Scholar