Potassium Nitrate Priming Effect on the Germination of Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum. Mill) cvs. “Mersa” and “Tekeze-1”

Table 2

Effect of priming with KNO₃ on the germination parameters and shoot length of tomato varieties.

Main effect	G (%)	MGT (day)	GI (day)	T50 (day)	PV (day %)	MGR (%)	SL (mm)
Variety
Mersa	92.25^a	3.59^a	6.98	2.7^a	21.58	6.59^a	5.03^a
Tekeze-1	85.75^b	3.26^b	7	2.59^b	22.5	6.13^b	4.29^b
LSD(5%)	3.88	0.16	0.36	0.07	2.07	0.28	0.49
KNO(3%)
Control	85.5^a	3.52	6.41^a	2.7	20.67	6.11^a	3.75^a
0.5	92.0^b	3.3	7.49^b	2.58	23.83	6.57^b	4.72^b
1.00	86.5a^c	3.43	6.81^a	2.62	21.83	6.18^a	5.02^b
1.5	92.0^b	3.44	7.23^b	2.67	21.83	6.57^b	5.15^b
LSD(5%)	5.49	0.22	0.51	0.09	2.92	0.39	0.7
CV (%)	6	6.4	7.1	3.5	12.8	6	14.5
Mean	89	3.42	6.99	2.64	22.04	6.36	4.66
SE (m)	5.32	0.22	0.5	0.09	2.83	0.38	0.68

Means followed by the same letter (s) for the same parameters are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. G, germination percent; MGT, mean germination time; GI, germination index; T50, time to 50% germination; PV, peak value for germination; MGR, mean daily germination percent; SL, shoot length; LSD, least significant difference; KNO3, potassium nitrate; CV, coefficient of variation; SE, standard error of the mean.