Revista Europea de Biología Experimental Acceso abierto

Abstracto

Study of germination and seedling characteristics of castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) mother plant’s seeds under foliar spray of micronutrient

Mohammad Reza Salamatbakhsh, Ahmad Tobe, Elnaz Taherifard

In order to study the germination and seedling characteristics of castor bean mother plant’s seeds under foliar spray of micronutrient, two separated field and pot experiments were conducted during 2010 growing season. At first for foliar spray of micronutrient on castor mother plant, an experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station in Urmia, Iran.Then for study germination and seedling characteristics of castor bean mother plant’s seeds, a pot experiment. Both experiments were arranged as factorial on the basis of randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments were time of foliar application of micronutrients on castor bean mother plant (T1꞊ flowering stage of first raceme, T2꞊ flowering stage of first raceme + flowering stage of secondary racemes, T3꞊ flowering stage of first raceme + flowering stage of secondary racemes + grain filling of secondary racemes, and T4꞊ control (without foliar application) and type of obtained grain. The plant characteristics were studied in terms of such as, radicle length, 100 seeds weight and radicle dry weight. Results of the data review showed that, the time of foliar application on castor bean mother planthad significant effect on plumule length, seedling fresh weight and 100 seeds weight. The highest 100 seeds weight (27.68 g) was obtained for T3. Also, the effects of type of grain had significant effect on all characteristics except radicle length. But interaction of two factors had not significant effect on characteristics. It seems that for improve germination and produce stronger seedlings, suitable time of foliar application is T3 on produced seeds from the first raceme.