INFLUENCE OF SEED PRIMING ON GERMINATION OF MARIGOLD (CALENDULA OFFICINALIS L.) IN STRESS CONDITIONS

Neven (Calendula officinalis L.) je poznat po svojim ljekovitim svojstvima kao i primjeni u medicinskoj, kemijskoj, kozmetičkoj i prehrambenoj industriji. Prilagođen je umjerenoj klimi te mu je optimalna temperatura klijanja 20 °C. Klijanje sjemena i rani rast sadnica su najosjetljiviji stadiji na abiotske stresove, kao što su nepovoljna temperatura i suša, a predsjetveni tretmani sjemena pozitivno utječu na svojstva klijavosti ili kvalitetu sjemena i sadnica u stresnim uvjetima. S obzirom da se sjetva nevena obavlja čim se uspostave minimalni uvjeti, a tada temperature i količine oborina mogu biti znatno niže od optimalnih, cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi utjecaj predtretmana na svojstva klijavosti sjemena nevena u uvjetima niskih temperatura i suše (-0,8 MPa PEG 6000). Laboratorijskim pokusom istražen je utjecaj temperature (14 °C, 18 °C i 22 °C) na klijavost sjemena nevena uz predtretmane dH2O i GA3 (250 ppm) u trajanju od 24 h. Netretirano sjeme je predstavljalo kontrolu. Utvrđeno je da sjeme nevena ne klije u uvjetima suše bez obzira na predsjetveni tretman i na temperaturu pri kojoj je klijalo. Ni temperatura niti predtretman sjemena ne utječu značajno na broj proklijalih sjemenki nevena, ali utječu na brzinu klijanja.Marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) is known for its medicinal properties and is used in the medical, chemical, cosmetic, and food industries. It is adapted to a temperate climate and its optimum germination temperature is 20 °C. Seed germination and early seed ling growth are the most sensitive to abiotic stresses such as unfavourable temperatures and drought, while seed priming has a positive effect on germination properties of seed and seed ling quality under stressful conditions. Since sowing of marigolds is done as soon as the minimum conditions are established, when temperature sand precipitation canbes ignificantly lower than optimal, the aim of this study was to determine the impact of seed priming on the germination properties of marigold seeds under low temperature and drought (-0.8 MPa PEG 6000). The effect of temperature (14 °C, 18 °C, and 22 °C) on germination of marigold seeds with treatments containing dH2O and GA3 (250 ppm) for 24 h was studied under laboratory conditions. Untreated seed represented control. Marigold seeds did not germinate under drought conditions, regard less of seed priming treatments and temperatures. It was also found that neither temperature nor seed priming significantly affected the number of germinated marigold seeds, but did affect the germination rate