Improving seed germination and early seedling growth of strawberry (<i>Fragaria</i> × <i>ananassa</i> Duch.) by using a fatty acid-based biostimulant

Figures (5) Tables (1)

Figure 1.
Final germination percentage (%) of strawberry seeds presoaked with different biostimulant concentrations after 21 days. Data are shown as the means ± standard error (SE) (n = 3). Different letters show significant differences among treatments based on DMRT (p < 0.05).
Figure 2.
Germination index (a) and germination rate index (b) of strawberry seeds presoaked with different biostimulant concentrations after 21 days. Data are shown as the means ± SE (n = 3). Different letters show significant difference among treatments based on DMRT (p < 0.05).
Figure 3.
Early seedling growth of the seeds presoaked with different concentrations of a fatty acid-based biostimulant 40 days after sowing.
Figure 4.
(a) Seedling height, (b) collar diameter, (c) root length, (d) leaf area, and (e) SPAD at 40 days after sowing. Data are shown as the mean ± SE; n = 18. Different letters show significant differences among treatments based on DMRT (p < 0.05).
Figure 5.
(a) Shoot fresh weight, (b) shoot dry weight, (c) root fresh weight, and (d) and root dry weight of the seedlings at 40 days after sowing. Data are shown as the mean ± SE; n = 18. Different letters show significant differences among treatments based on DMRT (p < 0.05).

Treatment	MGT (days)	CVG	TSG (days)
0%	9.08 ± 0.32^a	11.04 ± 0.41^a	11.00 ± 1.53^a
0.25%	9.35 ± 0.33^a	10.72 ± 0.37^a	11.33 ± 0.67^a
0.5%	9.34 ± 0.23^a	10.72 ± 0.26^a	12.00 ± 0.57^a
0.75%	9.4 ± 0.30^a	10.66 ± 0.33^a	12.67 ± 0.88^a
1%	8.59 ± 0.2^a	11.66 ± 0.35^a	11.67 ± 1.33^a
2%	9.14 ± 0.29^a	10.96 ± 0.34^a	12.33 ± 1.67^a
p-value	0.098	0.098	0.384
Note: Mean germination time (MGT); coefficient of velocity of germination (CVG); time spread of germination (TSG). Data are shown as the means ± SE (n = 3). Different letters in the same column indicate significant differences based on DMRT (p < 0.05).

Table 1.

MGT, CVG and TSG of germination of strawberry seeds soaked with different concentrations of biostimulant under controlled conditions.