Studies on Characteristics of Taro Seed Germination
SUN Ya-lin1,KE Wei-dong1,HUANG Xin-fang1,DONG Hong-xia1,HE Yan-hong2
1Wuhan City Vegetable Research Institute,Wuhan 430065,Hubei,China;2Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology,Ministry of Education,College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences,Huazhong Agricultural University,Wuhan 430070,Hubei,China
Taking hybrid taro〔Colocasia esculenta(L.)Schoot〕seeds‘ Yangguang×Leping’ and ‘Yangguang×Xiashan’ as experimental material,this study explored the effects of disinfection method, light,temperature,sowing substrate on taro germination and growth.The results showed that washing taro seeds with anhydrous alcohol after treating them with 8% NaClO(anhydrous alcohol diluted)for 9 minutes was the best seed disinfection method.There was no significant effect on seed germination and cotyledon growth by seed or perlite disinfection,but bacteria or fungi derived at later growth stage might affect the subsequent growth of cotyledon.Light is essential for taro seed germination and the optimum temperature for seed germination is 25-30 ℃.Seed germination rates were relatively higher in moistened filter paper,sterile water,sand,perlite and MS substrate,while no seed could germinate in cultivation soil.However, seedlings grew strongly on sand and MS substrate,and grew well after being transplanted in cultivation soil.Their survival rate was high up to 95%.