BREAKING DORMANCY OF Casuarina equisetifolia SEED WITH LONG IMMERSION IN HOT WATER

Abstract

Due to physical dormancy, Casuarina equisetifolia seeds have a poor germination rate, which makes it difficult to supply the seeds' needs. Soaking the seeds in hot water is a natural technique to promote water access to the seeds, especially those with a hard outer shell structure. The study's goal was to test if Casuarina equisetifolia seed dormancy could be broken by immersing them in hot water. The experiment used a completely randomized design with a long soaking treatment in hot water, which included soaking for 6 hours in normal temperature water, soaking for 6 hours with water with an initial temperature of 60⁰C, and soaking for 12 hours with water with an initial temperature of 60⁰C, each repeated 8 times. The observed data were subjected to a variance analysis and a F level 0.05 test. If there is a significant effect, the Honestly Significant Difference test is performed at a level of 0.05. According to the findings, breaking the dormancy of Casuarina equisetifolia seeds by soaking them in hot water for 12 hours at an initial temperature of 60⁰C resulted in the best maximal growth potential, germination, and first count germination.