Investigating the Effect of Plant Regulators along with Potassium Nitrate on Increasing the Germination Capacity of Malva sylvestris Seeds

To investigate the effects of plant regulators along with potassium nitrate on the germination characteristics of Mallow (Malva sylvestris) plant, an experiment was conducted using a factorial management based on a completely randomized design with three replications in the physiology laboratories of the Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center in 2024. The first factor consisted of priming treatments at four levels [GA3 (Gibberellic Acid), BA (Benzyladenine), NAA (Naphthalene Acetic Acid), and PN (Potassium Nitrate)], the second factor involved different levels of the first factor at seven concentrations (0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 1000 ppm) and the third factor included two light conditions (light and dark). The results indicated that the highest germination percentage (GP) was obtained from 500 mg l-1 of GA3, followed by PN at 200 mg l-1, which recorded a GP of 28.7%. The highest germination rate (GR) was obtained from the application of GA3, while the lowest rate for this trait was observed with PN. In both dark and light conditions, the lowest GR was observed due to the effect of BA, while its maximum was recorded from PN under dark conditions. The highest seedling length was observed with GA3 under the dark conditions. The highest rootlet length was obtained with the PN treatment (25.9 mm) under the dark conditions. The highest SVLI value (10.15) was recorded with the application of 200 mg.l-1 of PN, representing 26% increase compared to the control within the same treatment. All concentrations of BA had the lowest attributed traits in the germination. Overall, the results showed that the use of PN and GA3 are suitable options for enhancing the germination capacity of M. sylvestris plant seeds.