LETTUCE ACHENE INVIGORATION THROUGH OSMOPRIMING AT SUPRAOPTIMAL TEMPERATURE

The effect of osmopriming on lettuce achene invigoration at supra optimal temperature (35ºC) was investigated in the present study. Osmopriming of lettuce achene with KNO3 (0.25%, 0.5% and 1%), CaCl2 (15 mM, 25 mM, 50 mM) and PEG 8000 (0.1 g/ml H2O, 0.2 g/ml H2O, 0.3g/ml H2O) alleviated thermodormancy and improved lettuce achene’s vigor. Moreover, priming significantly improved final germination % age, energy of germination, germination index, shoot length, root length, vigor index and reduced mean germination time and time taken to50% germination, as compared to control, when seeds were subjected to supra-optimal germination environments. It can be concluded that osmopriming can act as effective tool to invigorate lettuce seeds at supra optimal temperature.