Наукові праці Лісівничої академії наук України (Oct 2018)
Sowing quality of seeds of the most common horse-chestnut species in the Western region of Ukraine
Abstract
In the Western region of Ukraine, four kinds of horse-chestnuts are common in amenity stands of different species and types: common horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.), red buckeye (Aesculus pavia L.), yellow buckeye (Aesculus octañra Marsh.), and red horse-chestnut (Aesculus carnea Hayne). For these types of horse-chestnuts, a set of studies was conducted to determine the sowing quality of seeds: purity, seed quality, seed moisture, weight of 1,000 pieces of seeds, technical and field germination, germinative energy and germination power. The dynamics of seed quality and technical germination of seeds for 2000-2017 were investigated. The studies on red buckeye, yellow buckeye and red horse-chestnut were conducted for the first time. The studies carried out by the authors are of particular relevance in connection with the pandemic of the horse-chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria orhidella (Lepidoptera, Gracillarideae)) in the region, which poses a real threat to the very existence of plantations of horse-chestnut in the region and the countrywide. It was found that the sowing quality of the seeds of the studied horse-chestnut species is characterized by a high level of purity (94.4-96.7%), good quality (83.0-97%) and a significant variability of the average weight of 1,000 pcs. seeds (8.8-20.2 kg). The moisture level of the horse-chestnut seeds of the common chestnut and the yellow buckeye (69.4-71.2%) makes it possible to characterize species as woody plants that are close in moisture level to a group of species with juicy pericarp, while red buckeye and red horse-chestnut as species with dry pericarp. According to the rating of the indices of seed field germination, the examined species of horse-chestnut are arranged in such a sequence: red buckeye, common horse-chestnut, yellow buckeye, red horse-chestnut. The seeds of red buckeye are distinguished for the highest level of technical germination power (78.0-87.0%) regardless of the type of substrate used, and the lowest level belongs to red horse-chestnut (52.0-60.0%). The established average indicators of sowing quality of seeds of the four species of horse-chestnut point to an individualization of this parameter for a particular species. It should be noted that the seeds sowing quality index is in the range from 52.1 to 68.7% for autumn seeding and from 54.0 to 69.6% for spring seeding. Common to all types of horse-chestnut is that the indicators of sowing quality of seeds during spring seeding are higher than in the autumn seeding. The results of conducted studies on the sowing quality of seeds specified the seeding rate of horse-chestnut seeds in the study region - 375-400 g / m for autumn and 430-460 g / m for spring seeding. The seeding rate for three species of horse- chestnut for autumn and spring seeding is substantiated for the first time (yellow buckeye – 340-400 and 400-460 g / m, red buckeye - 220-265 and 250-300 g / m, red horse-chestnut – 600-700 and 690-800 g / m, respectively).
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