Seed Germination Essay

1154 Words3 Pages

In order for a seed to germinate, many conditions must be met. Firstly a seed must be viable. If a seed is viable it require a suitable environment with proper levels of moisture, suitable temperatures, oxygen, fertile soil, and proper pH levels to name a few. However, as many of us have experienced, some viable (living) seeds will NOT germinate, even when given the perfect conditions. In the field of botany, this phenomenon is known as “physiological seed dormancy” (will be referred to as PSD from here on out). In plain language, PSD is like a “hibernation” stage that occurs after seed maturation but before germination.

After the seeds of a mother plant mature, they respond to environmental cues that signal the end of the growing season is near and begin PSD (hibernation). If the seed did not enter this dormancy phase, it would attempt to grow as soon as it reached maturity in the flower of the mother plant. As everyone knows, seeds in the wild do not germinate in the Fall Season because they would soon die during the coming winter months. So it is advantageous for seeds temporarily inhibit the process of germination because it increases their chances of survival and eventual hopes of maturing to breed. Different species of plants use different mechanisms remain in PSD. In botany, PSD can be broken down into two broad categories: Embryo Imposed Dormancy and Seed Coat Imposed Dormancy.

There are many variants to Embryo Imposed dormancy, but the most common and best understood mechanism involves the hormone Abscisic acid (referred to ABA from here on out). The mechanism by which ABA works is pretty complicated without a background in genetics and biology, (inhibits promoter region of genes in plant DNA that would otherwise res...

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...lute the perceived concentration of ABA. As ,mentioned before, I purposely didn’t go into too much detail here because most people know about soaking seeds in water and scarification. I just included it here to give a scientifically explanation as to exactly HOW these methods work. It still all boils down to ABA.
I brought up these topics before in a previous post with links to books and websites, but I decided to put it all into one place for others to read. If this helps people out, I can go into more details on plant physiology. I have a really extensive background in biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, genetics, physics, botany, pharmacology, medicine and science in general. So if you have questions feel free to ask. Ill probably be posting more info on plant physiology in the future if I find anything useful related to cannabis. Peace and much love!!
RastaLee

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