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Microbial enhancement of seed germination in Rosa corymbifera ‘Laxa’

2000; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 10; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0960258500000520

1475-2735

David R. Morpeth, Avice Hall,

Allelopathy and phytotoxic interactions

Abstract Germination of native tree and shrub species from seed can be unpredictable. Germination of Rosa corymbifera ‘Laxa’ was 2% under normal commercial conditions. This was obtained in the presence of the natural microflora found on the seeds. The microflora originated on the hips and the seeds become inoculated during extraction. Exclusion of microbes from such pretreatments resulted in no germination. Inoculation of surface sterilized seeds with members of the natural microflora resulted in 3% germination. The addition of Garotta TM , a commercial compost activator, to the commercial pretreatment increased germination to 95%. This high germination percentage was sustained over a 5 year period using seeds from the same stock bushes. Addition of the compost activator resulted in a 20-fold increase of microbial activity in the pretreatment mixture, indicating that enhanced microbial growth resulted in higher and more predictable germination percentages.