Stimulation of Germination of Freshly Collected and Cold-Stored Seeds of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.

Herbicides are the most commonly used means of controlling the growth of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. Their constant use has led to the development of resistant populations. They can be evaluated by studying seed germination and the corresponding grown plants, but A. artemisiifolia exhibits seed dormancy, preventing germination and delaying research. Here, we developed a simple and rapid method to stimulate germination of freshly collected or stored A. artemisiifolia seeds. The germination of A. artemisiifolia freshly collected/stored seeds was evaluated after storage, stratification, and chemical treatments (ethephon, gibberellic acid (GA(3)), thiourea, KNO(3)). Ethephon or ethephon + GA(3) improved freshly collected seed germination by 88 and 95%, respectively, and germination of stored seeds by 78 and 80%, respectively. In addition, placing the seeds of A. artemisiifolia in ethephon, GA(3), ethephon + GA(3), or thiourea solutions caused the freshly collected seeds to germinate faster than stored seeds or nontreated seeds. In contrast, the conditioning of seeds in these solutions favored germination of stored seeds, especially when ethephon + GA(3) or GA(3) was used. Imbibition of the freshly collected A. artemisiifolia seeds in a mixture of ethephon and GA(3) can effectively overcome primary dormancy when rapid experimental results are needed. For seeds requiring prolonged storage, conditioning in ethephon, GA(3), or thiourea solutions may be applied to promote germination.