The effect of magnetic field intensity and different times on germination behavior and seedling growth of Bromus tomentellus

The effect of magnetic field intensity and different times on germination behavior and seedling growth of Bromus tomentellus

In order to investigate the effect of intensity and duration of different magnetic fields on the germination traits of cotton grass seeds, an experiment was conducted in the laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture, the University of Guilan, in 2015. Experimental treatments included different intensities and durations of magnetic fields. Magnetic field intensities included exposing the seeds to magnetic fields of 3, 6, and 9 milliseconds, and the duration of exposing the seeds to each intensity included 20, 40, 60, and 80 minutes and control (excluding seeds). The experiment was performed with 13 treatments and factorial design utterly randomized with four replications. The analysis of variance showed that the magnetic field intensity and duration treatments had a significant effect (one percent probability level) on most of the evaluated traits. Magnetic field treatments did not significantly affect germination percentage, root dry weight, and allometric coefficient. By comparing the mean of the interaction of the treatments, it was found that the magnetic field intensities of 3, 6, and 9 ms showed the most positive effect in all traits for 60, 80, and 20 minutes, respectively. This study showed that the application of magnetic fields increases growth indices, especially root length in seedlings.