ISHS Acta Horticulturae 198: Symposium on the Timing of Field Production of Vegetables
THE IMPORTANCE OF SEED COAT INTEGRITY ON SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT |
| Authors: | A.G. Taylor, M.H. Dickson |
| Abstract:
Snap bean seed coat integrity and permeability were studied in relation to the susceptibility to imbibitional chilling injury. Plant breeding efforts have selected for the semi-hard seed (SHS) characteristic. SHS are those seed that do not imbibe water within 24 hours when the initial seed moisture is 8% or less. However, SHS beans hydrate readily when the moisture content is about 10%. Moisture content of SHS, and two commercial cultivars, Bush Blue Lake 47 and Burly were adjusted to 8%. SHS were shown to imbibe slowly and be chilling tolerant compared to the two commercial cultivars. Improvement in plant stands were measured in the field by sowing SHS seeds at both 8 and 12% moisture content. The beneficial effect of seed coat integrity was lost when SHS were mechanically damaged. | |
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