The vigour of timothy (Phleum pratense L.) seeds stored up to 5 years

Abstract

The viability and vigour of timothy seeds from the 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986 harvests, stored in a store-house under ambient conditions were studied. During five years of storage, seed viability dropped from 90-95% to below 15%. The greatest fall in viability occurred between the 4th and 5th year of storage. Seed viability loss was accompanied by rapid vigour degradation as indicated by soil emergence, seedling growth rate analysis, osmotic stress, ethanol, and accelerated ageing (AA-test) tests. The conductivity test was not useful in timothy vigour examination. The highest correlation coefficients between vigour tests and field emergence were obtained for the seedling growth rate analysis and osmotic stress test.