Gibberellic Acid and Potassium Nitrate Promote Seed Germination and Growth of Grey-leaved Saucer-berry (Cordia Sinensis Lam.) Seedlings

Figures & data

Table 1. Test design of chemicals (KNO₃, GA₃) and combinations of KNO₃ and GA₃ treatments

Treatment	Soaked in water (h)	Soaked in GA3 (ppm)	Soaked in KNO3 (%)	No of seeds taken
Control	24	0	0	60
T1	0	250	0	60
T2	0	500	0	60
T3	0	1000	0	60
T4	0	0	0.25	60
T5	0	0	0.50	60
T6	0	0	1.0	60
T7	0	250	0.25	60
T8	0	250	0.50	60
T9	0	250	1.0	60
T10	0	500	0.25	60
T11	0	500	0.50	60
T12	0	500	1.0	60
T13	0	1000	0.25	60
T14	0	1000	0.50	60
T15	0	1000	1.0	60

Table 2. Analysis of variance of gibberellic acid and potassium nitrate effects on seed germination properties for Cordia sinensis.

		Mean squares
SOV	df	MGT	FGP	LA	LFW	LDW	PHT	CD	LNP	N (%)	P (%)	K (%)	Na(%)
Gibberellin	3	29.35**	1,631.85**	202.96**	0.86**	0.12**	1,428.08**	9.45**	292.08**	0.20**	0.11**	0.56**	0.56*
KNO3	3	8.93*	1,517.16**	13.28^NS	0.06**	0.19**	139.41**	3.20**	24.63^NS	0.12*	0.15**	1.26**	0.25 ^NS
Gibberellin * KNO3	9	7.65*	1,240.36**	64.57**	0.15**	0.06**	397.52**	1.69**	61.48^NS	0.14**	0.19**	0.73**	0.54**
	F-Value
Gibberellin	3	15.83	193.68	25.64	950.15	138.97	82.29	99.38	1.29	27.70	99.54	95.94	10.83
KNO3	3	4.82	180.07	1.68	67.87	226.58	8.033	33.68	3.92	21.34	95.15	47.40	8.12
Gibberellin * KNO3	9	4.13	147.22	8.16	165.01	71.42	22.906	17.73	3.91	32.81	117.80	67.26	8.02

NS,** and * are, respectively, non-significant and significant at the P 0.01 and 0.05 levels. MGT, mean germination time; FGP, final germination percentage; LA, Leaf area (cm²); LFW, Leaf fresh weight; LDW, Leaf dry weight; FHT_f, Plant height_(final); CD_f, collar diameter_(final); LN_f, leaf number per plant_(final); N, nitrogen; P, Phosphorous; K, Potash; Na, sodium.

Table 3. Mean of germination, growth (MGT, GP, LA, LFW, LDW) and seedling nutrients (NPK and Na) of Cordia sinensis under various levels of GA₃ (in ppm) and KNO₃ (in %)

Treatment	MGT (days)	FGP (%)	LA (cm^2)	LFW (g)	LDW (g)	N (%)	P (%)	K (%)	Na (%)
Control (H2O)	11.00a	21.97 g	12.02fg	0.69i	0.26gh	0.51 ± 0.02b	0.50 ± 0.03fg	2.30 ± 0.06a	1.38 ± 0.05cdef
Gibberellin (250)	5.50de	26.83 f	22.91abc	1.20d	0.32ef	0.25 ± 0.01	1.06 ± 0.04a	1.60 ± 0.06 cd	1.65 ± 0.09abcde
Gibberellin (500)	5.50de	37.57d	21.06abcd	1.17de	0.35e	0.49 ± 0.02b	0.86 ± 0.02 cd	2.01 ± 0.10b	1.66 ± 0.09abcde
Gibberellin (1000)	5.50ab	35.90d	19.85bcde	1.00fg	0.20i	0.46 ± 0.12b	0.86 ± 0.01 cd	1.44 ± 0.04de	1.99 ± 0.06ab
KNO3 (0.25)	9.50de	35.17d	17.40de	0.95 g	0.26gh	0.31 ± 0.02 c	0.82 ± 0.02 cd	1.98 ± 0.12b	1.70 ± 0.29abcd
KNO3 (0.5)	5.50de	67.53b	11.27fg	1.00fg	0.60b	0.49 ± 0.02b	0.46 ± 0.02 g	1.40 ± 0.05e	1.43 ± 0.02bcdef
KNO3 (1.0)	9.50ab	29.77ef	9.44 g	0.52 k	0.21hi	0.29 ± 0.03c	0.64 ± 0.02ef	0.70 ± 0.03 h	1.34 ± 0.03 cdef
GA (250) + KNO3 (0.25)	5.50e	15.93 h	17.70de	0.99 g	0.30fg	0.26 ± 0.03 c	0.73 ± 0.01de	0.70 ± 0.03 h	1.03 ± 0.35 f
GA (250) + KNO3 (0.5)	5.33de	56.40 c	15.50ef	1.14e	0.63b	0.21 ± 0.01 c	0.90 ± 0.02bc	0.84 ± 0.01gh	1.77 ± 0.04abc
GA (250) + KNO3 (1)	4.33de	79.47a	25.52d	1.59a	0.72a	0.20 ± 0.02 c	0.42 ± 0.01gh	1.69 ± 0.04 c	1.71 ± 0.04abcd
GA (500) + KNO3 (0.25)	6.00de	67.17b	18.56cde	1.38 c	0.64b	0.25 ± 0.02 c	0.43 ± 0.01gh	1.04 ± 0.06 f	2.10 ± 0.23a
GA (500) + KNO3 (0.5)	6.00de	59.87 c	23.28ab	1.34 c	0.53 c	0.29 ± 0.02 c	0.50 ± 0.02fg	1.68 ± 0.07 c	1.67 ± 0.03abcde
GA (500) + KNO3 (1)	8.50d	33.23de	22.62abc	1.44b	0.70a	0.26 ± 0.01 c	1.04 ± 0.05ab	1.48 ± 0.07de	1.99 ± 0.07ab
GA (1000) + KNO3 (0.25)	8.33bc	9.10i	15.39ef	0.59 j	0.45d	1.11 ± 0.08a	0.30 ± 0.01hi	0.91 ± 0.04fg	1.07 ± 0.03ef
GA (1000) + KNO3 (0.5)	6.67 cd	36.20d	20.22bcd	1.05 f	0.42d	0.24 ± 0.01 c	0.56 ± 0.03fg	1.73 ± 0.05 c	1.18 ± 0.02def
GA (1000) + KNO3 (1)	9.33ab	9.50i	8.14 g	0.83 h	0.53 c	0.32 ± 0.02 c	0.53 ± 0.01i	0.69 ± 0.10 h	0.91 ± 0.02ef
C.D.	2.28	4.85	4.68	0.05	0.05	0.12	0.07	0.19	0.39
SE(m)	0.79	1.68	1.62	0.02	0.02	0.04	0.02	0.06	0.13

Mean in each column followed by the same letters are not significantly different at the P 0.05 level using Duncan test. MGT, mean germination time; FGP, final germination percentage; LA, Leaf area (cm²); LFW, Leaf fresh weight; LDW, Leaf dry weight, N, nitrogen; P, Phosphorous; K, Potash; Na, sodium. Nutrient data were taken at the end of the experiment i.e. 12 months.

Figure 1. Plant height of Cordia sinensis, under various levels of GA₃ (in ppm) and KNO₃ (in %) seed treatment, recorded at three month interval

Figure 2. Collar diameter of Cordia sinensis, under various levels of GA₃ (in ppm) and KNO₃ (in %) seed treatment, recorded at three month interval

Figure 3. Leaf number per plant of Cordia sinensis, under various levels of GA₃ (in ppm) and KNO₃ (in %) seed treatment, recorded at three month interval