Effect of seed priming hormone on germination characteristics and seedling growth of Zea mays L.

The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of different concentrations of gibberellin and auxin hormones on germination and germination characteristics of maize in laboratory and greenhouse conditions in the Faculty of Agriculture, Shoushtar Branch of Azad University in the 2018-2019. Both environments were a completely randomized design with four replications. Experimental treatments included seven treatments, different concentrations (20, 40 and 60 ppm) of gibberellin and auxin hormones and distilled water as a control and soaking time was 24 hours.In the laboratory section, a significant difference was observed among the treatments in relation to the measured traits. The highest and lowest germination indices with 39.98 and 19.22, respectively, were observed in gibberellic acid and auxin 20 and 60 ppm hormone treatments. The highest final germination percentage was recorded at 20 ppm gibberellin with a 24% improvement over the control.The highest radicle and plumule lengths belonged to 40 ppm gibberellin with 92.73 and 13.97 mm, respectively. In greenhouse section, the effect of hormonal treatments on all studied traits was significant. The highest wet and dry weight with 38 and 18% increase compared to the control was observed in 20 ppm gibberellin treatment. The highest amounts of soluble and reducing sugars were obtained with 90 and 54 mg.g-1 seeds in the hormonal treatment of 20 ppm gibberellin, respectively, and the lowest values ​​were obtained with 33 and 22.4 mg.g-1 seeds in the control treatment. The highest α-amylase activity was recorded at 30.1 nmol per seed in 20 ppm gibberellin treatment. This study showed that hormone 20 ppm gibberellin were effective and efficient treatment in increasing the vigor of Fajr hybrid corn seeds.