Effect of soaking time and GA3 concentration on germination and growth of Leymus chinense seeds

Present study investigated the effect of soaking time and different concentration of gibberellin on germination and seedling growth of Leymus chinensis cv. Jisheng (artificial breeding) and wild L. chinense (natural cultivar). The results of this study showed that the germination rate and the vigor index of both L. chinensis cv.Jisheng and wild L. chinense seeds were significantly increased by water soaking 48 h compared with the controls (no soaking, P0.05). The height of L. chinensis cv. Jisheng and wild L. chinense seedlings treated by 300 g/g GA3 for 48 h was the highest, which were 12.39 cm and 14.06 cm, respectively, and were significant different from that of the controls（P0.05）. The germination rate, germination index, germination potentiality and vigor index were promoted by lower concentration of GA3 treatments (soaked with GA3 for 48 h), but inhibited by high GA3 concentration in varying degrees. It was concluded that the best treatment for the germination of L. chinensis cv. Jisheng and wild L. chinense was 300 g/g GA3 soaking seeds for 48 h.