Germination test of Eucalyptus phaeotricha seeds

ABSTRACT The rules for seed analysis do not have recommendations for conducting the germination test of Eucalyptus phaeotricha seeds. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the best substrate, temperature, conduction time, and substrate moistening level for the germination test of E. phaeotricha seeds. First count of germination, germination, germination speed index and mean time of germination were evaluated. The first experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design, in a factorial scheme (6 x 2), corresponding to six temperature regimes (15, 20, 25, 30, 35 °C and 20-30 °C) and two substrates (paper and sand) with four replicates, and the means were compared by Tukey test at 0.05 probability level. In the second experiment, the germination test was installed with the most favorable substrate and temperature identified in the previous step, evaluating substrate moistening levels equivalent to 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 times the dry weight of the substrate; due to the quantitative nature of the treatments, the data were subjected to regression analysis and curve fitting. The germination test of E. phaeotricha seeds should be conducted at 30 °C on paper, moistened with a water volume of 2.2 times the dry weight of the paper, with initial and final counts at 6 and 14 days after sowing, respectively.