Germination rate and seedling vigour of tall fescue as affected by endophyte status and seed density

Abstract

Forage grass seed quality is influenced by plant genetics as well as seed density, storage conditions, age of seed, and endophyte infection status. We used eight seed lots of tall fescue (three cultivars, with natural endophytes, endophyte-free, or novel endophyte) to test the effect of seed density on germination and seedling vigour. Seed lots were separated into nine density fractions using a cylinder air column. Thousand seed weight values were determined. Three runs of four replications of plots consisting of 25 seeds of each entry were seeded in greenhouse experiments to determine seedling mass at 8 weeks after planting. Early germination counts as well as laboratory germination tests indicated significant differences among weight classes in speed of germination as well as seedling vigour. The lightest fraction of seed clearly contained inferior seed, but higher density seed lots tended to have better germination and seedling vigour than lower density ones. Keywords: seed density, seedling vigour, germination, tall fescue, endophyte