Effects of PEG Priming Treatment on Germination and Seedling Growth of Onion Seed(Allium cepa L.)

These experiments were conducted to evaluate the variability of seed germination and seedling growth with different levels of polyethylene glycol(PEG 6,000) solution in onion seed. Average germination percentage of seed primed in PEG solution with 1.00 and 0.75 MPa was higher than control, and that of seed primed in 1.50MPa was lower than unprimed control. Germination percentage(GP) of seed primed for 5 days was highest, and as the primed days become long, the GP was decreased. The GP of airation seed during the primed was higher than that of unairation seed, about 5%, respectively. The GP of washed seed after primed was higher than that of unwashed seed, but that of redried seed after primed was lower than that of the others. The highest GP cultivar was Chunjoogoohyung and the lowest GP cultivar was Seouldego in unredried seed after primed, but Chunjoojoonggo was highest and Jungpoonwhang was the lowest cultivar in redried seed after primed. As the PEG concentration increased, the seedling length(SL) was shortened, and seed primed for 15 days was longer than other treatments. The SL of primed seed was similar to GP. The SL of washed seed after primed was longer than that of others, but that of redried seed after primed was shortest among the others. The SL of Chunjoojoonggo and Nongwoodego was longest and Seouldego was shortest among the cultivars in unredried seed after primed, but that of Chunjoogoohyung and Chunjoojoonggo was longest and Seouldego was the shortest cultivars in redried seed after primed.