Improving of True Shallot Seeds Germination By The Application of Plant Growth Regulators and Osmoconditioning Treatment

The quality of true shallot seeds may decrease due to prolonged storage. Low germination ability and slow germination rate are some of the things that can indicate a decrease in seed quality. Actually, damaged seeds can still be repaired by giving some treatment before sowing. This study aims to determine the effect of the application of plant growth regulators and osmoconditioning treatment to improve the germination of true shallot seeds. This research was conducted in Asam Kumbang, Medan Selayang, Medan, Indonesia. Using a Randomized Block Design with 2 factors, the first factor is Plant Growth Regulators (Z) with 6 levels, namely Z0 (Without PGRs Application), Z1 (Gibberellin 500 ppm), Z2 (Putrescine 15 ppm), Z3 ( Putrescine 20 ppm ), Z4 (Putrescine 15 ppm + Gibberellin 500 ppm), Z5 (Putrescine 20 ppm + Gibberellin 500 ppm). The second factor was the osmoconditioning treatment with PEG 6000 (O) with 4 levels, namely O0 (Without Osmoconditioning Treatment), O1 (PEG 6000 3%), O2 (PEG 6000 4%), O3 (PEG 6000 5%). Parameters observed were germination rate, germination rate index, percentage of germination, germination ability, simultaneous growth of seeds, seedling length, root length, seedling dry weight, and catalase activity test. The results of this study were : application of plant growth regulators could improve true shallot seed germination, indicated by the observed values of all parameters which were significantly different from those of the control (without PGRs application). The plant growth regulator that produced the best increase in germination was Gibberellins 500 ppm, although the difference in effect with other PGRs was not significantly different. Meanwhile, the osmoconditioning treatment with PEG 6000 was also able to improve the germination of true shallot seeds as indicated by an increase in most of the observed parameters, but in the root length parameter it was seen that the tendency of PEG 6000 3% always gave the highest value but gave the lowest value for this parameter. The best concentration of PEG 6000 in the osmoconditioning treatment to improve true shallot seed germination was 3%.