The Influence of Substrate Types and Bio-phyto-modulators on Spruce Seed Germination and Seedling Development (Picea abies [L.] Karst.)

Abstract

Spruce is a European native coniferous species, spreading over the area in between The Carpathian Mountains and the Alps, up to the northern parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula. In the future, spruce forests will have to cope with the growing climate change that is already threatening their natural habitats. This study has focused on the spruce seed germination process and seedlings growth under the influence of DEA (Water Energizing Device) bio-phyto-modulators. The biological material under analysis consists of spruce seeds selected from four Romanian sources included in the National Catalogue of Basic Materials for Generating Forestry Reproduction Material. Five different substrates were used for tasting germination capacity, with two different treatments (distilled water and energized water). Analyzing the treatments used it can be notice that subjecting the seeds to energized water treatment led to a higher germination capacity than in the case of those watered with distilled water (40-94%) and, respectively (24-84%). The seedlings growth was also higher in the case of those springing from the energized water treated seeds (2.45-4.23 cm) than from those springing from the distilled water treated seeds (2.07 cm-3.14 cm). The differences in germination capacity, growth and development were observed for all the provenances. Applying DEA bio-phyto-modulators has proven beneficial, with noticeable differences for both germination capacity and seedlings growth.