Hot water seed treatment for Leucaena glauca (L.) Benth

Abstract

Seed of Leucaena glauca (L.) Benth. germinates slowly, and irregularly unless treated before sowing to render the testa permeable to water. Treatment with sulphuric acid is effective but inconvenient to use. Experiments with hot water over a range of temperature and time are described. An effective treatment was to immerse the seed in water at 80°Cfor two minutes. After this treatment seed can be dried rapidly and stored before sowing. Seed treated in this way has retained full viability for 15 months.