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Soaking Procedures and Hydroseeder Damage to Common Bermudagrass Seeds¹

Hydroseeding is increasingly important as a technique for vegetating roadside, industrial, and residential areas. Presoaking of seeds in solutions of growth regulators has proven valuable as a germination accelerator in the laboratory, but has not been previously field tested. The objectives of these studies were: 1) to develop production procedures for presoaking seeds of hulled common bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] in solutions of growth regulators, 2) to determine whether presoaked seeds were damaged in a commercial hydroseeder, and 3) to demonstrate the effectiveness of presoaking under field conditions. We undertook these studies because hydroseeding is extensively used in the USA, and presoaking seeds has been shown to be valuable to this industry. To determine optimum procedures, seeds were soaked for 24 through 96 hours in an aqueous solution containing 1.0 mmole/liter KNO₂, 0.035 mmole/liter GA₃ and 0.01 mmole/liter kinetin at seed-to-solution ratios by weight of 1:1, 1:2, 1:5, 1:10, 1:20, and 1:30, some with aeration (1:5 and 1:30). To determine damage, seeds were soaked in water for 0, 36, 60, and 96 hours and then agitated in a commercial hydroseeder for I hour, with samples removed at intervals. Germination in petri dishes was not affected by different ratios of seeds to solution varying from 1:1 to 1:30 if soaking was limited to 24 hours. With longer soaking the higher ratios decreased germination. Soaking for 36 hours in water before agitation did not alter seeds to the extent that damage was excessive even after 30 min in the hydroseeder. Damage of both soaked and dry seeds by cracking or rubbing was negligible at the agitation times normally used in hydroseeding. In field testing, seedling numbers were increased when seeds were presoaked with growth regulators. The technique of presoaking seeds in hydroseeders appears to be effective and practicable.

Key Words: Hydroseeding • Seed damage • Presoaking seeds

² Wildland seeding specialist, Dep. of Agronomy and Range Science, Univ. of California, Davis, CA 95616, and range scientists, USDA-ARS, Renewable Resources Center, Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV 89512, respectively.

Received for publication May 10, 1976.