Seedling Characteristics of Trifoliate Orange (Poncirus trifoliata) Seeds as Affected by Cold Storage Duration and Fruit Maturity at Harvest

Abstract

The pre-sowing treatment and germination of trifoliate orange seeds were conducted at the Pomology Project Area, Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet from October 2015 to April 2016 to determine the best stage of fruit maturity appropriate for extracting seeds for germinating trifoliate orange seeds, to determine the best cold storage duration that will hasten the germinability of trifoliate orange seeds; to evaluate the growth of trifoliate orange seedlings as affected by the different cold storage duration; and to be able to evaluate the interaction of cold storage duration and seed maturity in the seed germination and seedling growth of trifoliate orange. This was done by sowing treated seeds of different cold storage and freshly extracted seeds as control into a pot composed with garden soil, sand and alnus compost. Results revealed that the various cold storage durations of trifoliate orange seeds had significantly affected seed germination, seedling emergence and some seedling characteristics such as seedling height and seedling vigor. Seedlings resulting from the seeds subjected to different cold storage durations had enhanced seed germination that resulted to higher percentage of seed germination and development of more normal seedlings. Likewise, subjecting fully matured trifoliate orange seeds to cold storage at 50C for five weeks prior to sowing enhanced earlier germination having faster and more vigorous seedlings growth.