Effect of priming and salinity on the germination and seedling growth of Stipagrostis plumosa

An experiment was performed aimed to investigate the effects of priming and salinity on germination and seedling growth of Stipagrostis plumose in factorial test and completely randomized design with four replications in laboratory condition. The first factor was priming consist of salicylic acid with three levels (100, 200 and 300 mg/l), gibberellic acid with three levels (125, 250 and 500 ppm), ascorbic acid with three levels (100, 200 and 300 mg/l), and water as control, and the second factor was salinity treatment in six levels (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 m/l). The measurement characteristics were speed of germination, percent of germination, root length, shoot length, seedling length and seed vigor. Results indicated that salt stress had inhibitive effect on germination and early seedling growth of S. plumosa. All chemical stimulators increased the germination characteristics of this plant. Also, the interaction of the tested treatments showed that gibberellic acid 250 ppm has the highest effect on improvement of germination characteristics under all levels of salinity stress. We conclude that priming seeds by gibberllic acid can increase resistance the germination of S. plumosa in areas prone to salinity.