Improving Papaya Seedling Emergence by Matriconditioning and Gibberellin Treatment

Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) seeds germinated poorly at 25C in the presence of gibberellin (GA 4+7 ) or following matriconditioning at 25C for 4 days. However, a combined treatment of matriconditioning and GA 4+7 for 4 days synergistically promoted germination and seedling emergence. Drying the seeds after conditioning reduced the percentage of seedling emergence in the combined treatment involving 400 μ m GA 4+7 only. Combining matriconditioning with 100 or 200 μ m GA 4+7 could effectively reduce germination time and improve seedling emergence and is recommended as a standard procedure for testing papaya seed germination.