To study the effects of gibbellic acid, of the light/darkness and of pre-freezing on the germination of lavender seeds, a randomized experiment was used, with five replications of 30 seeds, with the following treatments: control, GA3 100 ppm, GA3 200 ppm, darkness, GA3 100 and 200 ppm + 48 h pre-freezing and GA3 100 and 200 ppm + 7 days of pre-freezing. The lavender seeds were pre-soaked during 18 hours in GA3 and destilated water solutions, and thereafter placed in gerbox, using moistened filter paper. In the pre-freezing treatments the seeds were kept in a refrigerator for 48 hours and thereafter 7 days in 5° C. After this they were transfered to a germinator with continuous white light and constant temperature of 25° C . Seed counting was performed each 2 days until 30 days. To evaluate the treatment effects, seeds were submitted to the following observations: a) percentage of germinated seeds, and b) the average period of germination, expressed in days. From the results it could be observed that the GA3 treatments, with or without pre-freezing, increased significatively the germination percentage, reducing the reaction time.
germination; gibberellic acid; seeds; Lavandula angustifolia
