Enhancing germinability of Schinus molle L. seed lot from Ethiopia with specific gravity and IDS techniques

The IDS (Incubation, Drying and Separation) method was tested on Schinus molle L. seeds collected from Ethiopia in an attempt to sort non-viable from viable seeds. Seeds were incubated for 24 h followed by one, three, four, five, six, nine and twelve hours of drying and then separated in water. All IDS treatments gave 80.5–93.5% germination in the sunken fraction compared with 61% for untreated seeds. The mean germination time of sunken seeds reduced from 11.2 (control) to 8.9–9.2 days (IDS-treated). Specific gravity separation in water of untreated seeds was also tested, and the germination capacity of sunken fraction was 83.5% with a mean germination time of 9.3 days. IDS method can, therefore, be used to enhance both percentage and rate of germination of a seed lot of Schinus molle, which is desirable to produce uniform and vigorous seedlings in the nursery or out in the field.