Effect of stratification and Gibberellins on seed germination and seedling growth of Apricot Prunus armeniaca L.

Abstract

The study was conducted in the canopy of wood in the Department of Horticulture / Agriculture College / University of Baghdad during 2006 season .Seeds of Apricot were brought fr0m local variety of last season fruits .The objective of this study to investigate the response the Apricot seed to stratification and Gibberellins treatments ,the result showed that the percentage of germination was increased to 90% when seeds treat with 2000 ppm of Gibberellins and with out it ,the plant high and stem diameter were increased to 19.67 cm. and 0.23 cm. respectively in the same treatment , while the leaf number for every plant increased to 20.67 leaves when seeds treated with 1500 ppm of Gibberellins with stratification and the leaf area was increased to 68.45cm2/plant in the same treatment and the percentage of chlorophyll increased to 39.80% when seeds stratificated for eight weeks, while the characteristics were decreased from this results in the other treatments.