Four comercial lots of tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum L.) seeds cv. "Petomech" and cv. "Santa Clara" were evaluated for variations in electrical conductivity according to imbibition periods (6, 12, 18 and 24 hours) and seed number (25, 50 and 100) with results related to seedling emergence, in three periods. Standard germination, first count, germination speed index, and seedling emergence were evaluated. The results showed that electrical conductivity was influenced by cultivar. `Petomech' seeds showed high electrical conductivity values in relation to those verified for `Santa Clara'. Large differences in electrical conductivity values between lots of cultivar 'Petomech' were not related to seed performance. No significant change was detected in the electrical conductivity concerning the number of seeds studied.
tomato seeds; eletrical conductivity; number of seeds; imbibition period