Response of germination and seedling growth of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdarifa) medicinal plant to drought stress

Subject Areas : Ecophysiology & Phytochemistry of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Received: 2017-01-03 Accepted : 2017-01-03 Published : 2016-12-21

Keywords: Drought stress, seedling growth, Germination percentage, Hibiscus sabdarifa,

Abstract :

Environmental stresses especially drought stress affect on the different aspects of plant growth and cause decrease and delay in germination, decrease of aerial parts growth and decrease in dry matter production. In order to study the effect of drought stress on germination and seedling growth of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdarifa) medicinal plant, this experiment was conducted in a randomized complete blockdesign with three replication at the research laboratory of faculty of Agriculture, Shahrkord University. The treatment of drought stress was performed using PEG (6000) including (0, -0.34, -0.67 and -1.3 MP). Results showed that the drought stress had a significant effect on the root and shoot length, dry weight of roots and shoots, germination percentage, germination time, germination rate and seed vigor index in 1% probability level. Also, decreasing trend was observed by increasing drought stress levels for germination percentage, germination rate and seed vigor index