ChileanJAR

At La Platina Experimental Station (INlA, Santiago), during the 1984/85 season, carrot seeds (Daucus carota L.) cv. Chantenay-Platina, were osmotically conditioned by soaking in a -11 bar solution of polyethylene glicol (PEG-6000), at 25ºC for 9 days. Treated seeds were dried and later tested fer germination in the laboratory, at eight different temperatures, ranging between 5º and 40ºC. Also, treated and dried seeds were sown under field conditions, and emergence and yield were recordedin a split plot designo Non treated seed was used as control. The seeding and harvesting dates were September 26, 1984 and January 18, 1985, respectively, for the field experimento Germination tests demonstrated that, irrespective of temperature, the priming technique improved both the rate and the speed of germination. Favourable effects on length of the process and total germination values were found under low (5º, 10ºC) and high temperatures (35º, 40ºC), which are limiting for crops sown under adverse climatic conditions. Under field conditions, speed as well as total emergence were significantly improved and yield and roots' size (diameter, lenght, and weight) were favourably affected, when seed was osmoconditioned.