Effect of pre-sowing treatments on seed germination and seedling vigour index of Abies spectabilis (D.Don) spach

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of pre-sowing treatments on germination of Abies spectabilis commonly called as “Talispatra” - an important high level conifer of Western Himalayan region. The seeds of Abies spectabilis collected from Kalabagh near Churdhar area of Shimla district (H.P.) were given different pre-sowing treatments of cold moist stratification in sand for 1 to 4 weeks and control (untreated seeds) to study their effect on germination behaviour and seedling vigour index. Significant differences were observed in germination per cent and seedling vigour index of seeds subjected to different pre-sowing treatments. The maximum germination per cent (42.00%) was recorded in seeds treated with cold moist stratification treatment in sand for 1 week followed by 36.00 per cent germination recorded for control (untreated seeds). The minimum germination per cent (19.50%) was recorded in seeds treated with cold moist stratification treatment in sand for 4 weeks. The findings of the present investigation revealed that Abies spectabilis seeds do not possess any dormancy and the poor germination is primarily due to presence of large number of empty seeds.