Abstract:
This experiment was conducted in the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The aim was to investigate if seed priming with 10% sodium hypochlorite (bleach) for 20minutes and water for 30 minutes would improve germination and seedling vigour in the citrus species: rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri Lush.), smooth lemon (Citrus limon L. Osbeck), grapefruit (Citrus paradisi L.) and sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) compared to unprimed seeds. The experimental design was a Completely Randomized Design with 4 replications with 12 treatments: unprimed seeds of the four citrus species (controls), seeds primed with 10% bleach for 20 minutes, and seeds primed with water for 30 minutes. Data collected included percent germination, seedling height, number of leaves and the seedling vigour index was calculated. Data was subjected to analyses of variance and tested at 5% significance. Seed priming with 10% bleach solution for 20minutes improved the germination percentage of all the citrus species and seedling vigour index. There was a significant correlation between seedling height and seedling vigour index indicating that seedling height should be considered in choice of citrus seedlings to transplant to the field.
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