Factors influencing germination

Throughout module 5, we have explored various factors which can affect whether a seed will germinate or not. Figure 11 reminds you of these. You might like to view and download this image at high quality. To do this, first click the 'Maximise' link below the image: to download, right click or control click once the image has opened.

The image summarises the factors influencing germination discussed in this module: temperature, gaseous environment, diurnal or seasonal fluctuations, biological factors such as dormancy, genetics, passage of time, substrate, water and presence (or absence) of dormancy-breakers.
Figure 11: factors influencing germination

What happens if you have ensured optimum substrate, temperature, gaseous environment and water for your seeds to germinate, established that none of your seeds are immature, dead or empty, and applied the appropriate dormancy-blocking treatments, but still the germination rates are disappointing for the species? At this point, it may well be time to regenerate.

The seed information database

Regeneration