Effects of Culture Medium and Organic Matter on Germination Characteristics of Lemongrass Seeds (Melissa Officinalis L.)

Evaluation of seed germination characteristics is one of the basic and preliminary studies of medicinal plants. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of culture medium and organic matter on improving the germination characteristics of lemongrass seeds as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications in Jahrom city. The first factor is the culture medium at three levels (compost, soil and vermicompost, compost + vermicompost and vermicompost + soil at equal ratios) and the second factor was organic matter at three levels (control, effective microorganisms (EM) and humic acid 5mlL-1). Germination percentage, rate and mean daily germination, plant vigor and germination index were measured. The results showed that the effect of culture medium, organic matter and the interaction of culture medium and organic matter on all germination characteristics of lemongrass seeds was significant. Highest germination percentage, germination rate, mean daily germination, vigor index and seed germination index were obtained by using EM. The culture medium containing soil + compost and soil + vermicompost alone had the highest germination traits. The interaction of culture medium and organic matter showed that the highest seed germination percentage of 100% was obtained in soil culture medium + compost using EM. The highest germination rate as well as the highest germination index were observed in soil culture medium containing compost + vermicompost using EM. In order to increase germination and improve the seedling quality of lemongrass, the use of EM and the combination of soil + compost for culture medium is recommended.