Influence of temperature and substrate on germination and initial development of <i>Eruca sativa</i> seedlings

Abstract

The present work had the objective of evaluating the effect of different substrates and temperatures on the germination of seeds and development of Eruca sativa seedlings. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design in a 5 x 4 factorial arrangement (4 temperatures: 25, 30, 35 and 20-35 ºC and 5 substrates: vermiculite, coconut fiber, Tropstrato^®, blotting paper and phenolic foam) with four replications of 25 seeds. The following parameters were analyzed: germination (%), first germination count (%), germination speed index, length of hypocotyl and the primary root (cm). The constant temperature of 30 ºC and the substrates on vermiculite, coconut fiber, Tropstrato^® and blotting paper, were considered to be the most suitable for the conduction of germination tests of Eruca sativa seeds and for improvement of the development of the seedlings.