Seed scarification relieves weed seed dormancy in Convolvulus arvensis

Özet

Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.) is a perennial weed, which has a creeping growth habit and deep root system. This is one among the most troublesome and aggressive weeds around the world and infest a large number of field crops and orchards. The weed has a strong dormancy character, which makes working on this weed under laboratory conditions a difficult task. This study aimed to check the dormancy breaking impact of several hormones and scarification with sand paper in the seeds of C. arvensis. The results showed that the most effective treatment for removing weed seed dormancy in C. arvensis was the mechanical method i.e., scarification with sand paper. This method resulted in a 55% germination of the weed seeds, which was the highest among all the germinated seeds. None of the hormones was effective in improving the germination of C. arvensis. The most efficient among the hormones was kinetin that resulted only in 5% germination of the weed seeds, which was equal to the germination percentage observed in the control treatment. It is concluded that the mechanical scarification can act as a successful method to remove dormancy in the seeds of C. arvensis.