DURATION OF SEEDLING EMERGENCE AND FIELD GERMINATION OF SEEDS OF PEDICELLATE ZIZIPHORA

This study examined how sowing date and sowing depth affect the field emergence of Ziziphora pedicellata seeds. Seeds were sown in November, March and April at depths of 0, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 cm (100 seeds per variant, four replications). Emergence increased from November to April at every depth. Seeds sown in November showed no emergence at 0 cm, and the best result for that date was 42% at 2.0 cm. In March, emergence reached 64% at 2.0 cm. April sowing gave the highest values at all depths, with a maximum of 77% at 2.0 cm. This was 35 percentage points higher than in November and 13 points higher than in March. Across the three dates, the 2.0 cm depth gave the best result, averaging 61.0% emergence (183 of 300 seeds). In the April sowing, emergence at 2.0 cm began on April 12 and ended on April 19. The results show that field emergence depends on both sowing date and depth, as well as on soil temperature, moisture and other environmental factors. Sowing in April at a depth of 2.0 cm is therefore considered the most promising variant under the studied conditions.