MÉTODOS DE QUEBRA DE DORMÊNCIA EM SEMENTES DE QUIABO

Abstract

Okra has dormancy in its seeds, which impairs the uniformity of germination. The objective of this study was to evaluate seed dormancy breaking methods with aerial part pruning and okra fruit thinning. Seedlings of cultivar Santa Cruz 47 were grown in a greenhouse, with manual transplantation in the field, as well as fruit harvest. Five treatments were used: two pruning periods of okra shoots at 40 and 50 days after transplanting seedlings in the field; two forms of thinning of fruits, inferior fruits and superior fruits of the plants at 50 days after transplantation; seeds without breaking dormancy (control treatment). It was evaluated: number of seeds per fruit, mass of one thousand seeds, purity, moisture degree, germination, first count of germination , electrical conductivity, seedling dry mass, emergence, emergence speed index and average emergence time. Plant pruning and superior fruits had advantages for physiological characteristics in breaking dormancy of okra seeds. Pruning of aerial part at 50 days proved to be the most promising method for overcoming okra seed dormancy