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Modelling
the effect of temperature on seed germination in some
cucurbits
Ertan Sait
Kurtar
Ondokuz Mayıs University, Bafra Vocational School,
Department of Technical Programs, 55400 Bafra, Samsun,
Turkey. E-mail:
ertansaitkurtar@hotmail.com.
Accepted 15 December, 2009 |
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The prediction of germination percentage (GP) and
germination speed (GS) of the seeds for some cucurbits
(watermelon, melon, cucumber, summer squash, pumpkin and
winter squash) was investigated by mathematical model based
on temperature. The model, D = [a - (b x T) + (c x T2)]
of Uzun et al. (2001), was adapted to predict both the GP
and GS in relation to 12 different temperatures, namely 12,
15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42 and 45°C. In
addition, optimum temperature (To = - b / 2 x
c) for GP and GS were calculated by using the
coefficients obtained from the regression models developed.
Observed and predicted optimum temperature (To)
for GP and GS varied among species and cultivars and strong
correlations were established between observed and predicted
GP and GS based on temperature. The predicted To
ranged from 21.6°C (summer squash, pop. Urfa) to 27.8°C
(watermelon, cv. Amazon F1) for GP and from
25.5°C (winter squash) to 30.4°C (melon, cv. Hasanbey-1) for
GS. These results indicated that predictions based on this
mathematical model were highly reliable and that it could be
confidently used to predict GP and GS for the evaluated
cucurbits.
Key words:
Germination, modelling, temperature, cucurbit crops. |
