LED ultraviolet irradiation of ornamental plant seeds

The article presents studies on determining the effective dose of ultraviolet irradiation when processing seeds of ornamental plants in a compact unit. A promising branch of plant grow-ing is ornamental gardening, since ornamental plants are widely used in landscaping of populated areas. In ornamental gardening, western thuja and prickly spruce are used, which reproduce by seeds. Among all the methods of seed treatment before sowing, we give preference to LED ul-traviolet irradiation (UVR), as the simplest, energy-saving, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly method. The purpose of the study is to determine the effective dose of UV irradiation of seeds of ornamental plants prickly spruce (Picea pungens Engelm) and western thuja (Thuja occi-dentalis L) to increase the germination energy and seed viability. The experiment on UFO of seeds was carried out on a compact UV LED setup with an irradiance of 17.16 W/m2 and only in the UFO-A zone (315...400 nm). The experiment was repeated four times. Each experiment in-cluded 100 seeds. The highest germination energy and maximum seed germination of prickly spruce are observed at a UFO dose of 9.9 kJ/m2 (tfact.=4.71> ttable.=2.57 at P = 0.05). The highest values of germination energy and germination in western thuja occur at a UFO dose of 2.2 kJ/m2. UFO is a good stimulator of growth processes. This method is economically advanta-geous compared to traditional chemical stimulation of seeds, energy-efficient, and environmen-tally friendly because it does not pollute the soil. Keywords: LED IRRADIATION OF SEEDS, ORNAMENTAL GARDENING, THUJA OCCIDENTAL-IS, PRICKLY SPRUCE, ENERGY SAVING, ULTRAVIOLET, PRE-SOWING SEED TREATMENT