Quantifying the influence of seed priming on germination and growth traits of Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) varieties

The uniform and quick germination of seeds is crucial for better growth, yield and quality traits of vegetable crops. Likewise, the seeds of the bitter gourd have a thick and hard seed coat, germination and field emergence are always problematic for this crop. One of the best, economical, readily available,method for reducing seed dormancy and promoting germination is pre-sowing seed treatment. Therefore, a field trail was conducted at Horticultural Garden, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam to explore the efficacy of seed primimg on bitter gourd germination and growth attributes. The experiment was run in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), consisted of two varieties, Karan and Jaunpur-I, and two priming sources, zinc solutions (0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, and 0.7% w/v) and distilled water. The seeds were primed for 24 hours. Additionally, the untreated seeds were used as control. The results revealed that seed priming treatments significantly influenced bitter gourd's growth traits (P<0.05), except for pH, TSS, ash, and moisture. Moreover, increasing zinc concentrations were associated with a decreasing pattern in seed germination and growth-related attributes. The optimal results were achieved with 0.1% zinc priming, showed 90% seed germination, minimum flowering time (44.33days), fresh fruit weight (152.57g), fruit length (18.54cm), fruit diameter (18.7cm), and fruit plant-1(39.17). Notably, all parameters, except seed germination percentage, aligned closely with results obtained from distilled water priming. The varietal comparison revealed non-significant differences in most parameters except fresh fruit weight and pH, while the interaction between bittergourd varieties and seed priming treatments significantly influenced fruit length and fruits plant-1. The study concluded that seed priming with the lowest concentration of 0.1% zinc effectively enhanced bittergourd germination and growth attributes. However, for optimal growth, zinc priming at 0.1% could be replaced by priming in distilled water.