The germination and seedling characteristics of six forage pea cultivars were investigated under different levels of salinity (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 dS/m) and drought (0,-2, and-4 bar) stresses. All characteristics of germination and seedling growth varied by cultivar, salinity and drought levels, and their interactions. With high seedling lengths overall, Özkaynak, Ulubatlı, and Töre cultivars demonstrated low reduction rates in seedling length when salinity reached 15 dS/m, whereas the Taşkent cultivar's reduction rate increased considerably at that level of salinity, as did Ürünlü and Gölyazı cultivars. Meanwhile, the Gölyazı cultivar had high fresh and dry weights, despite high reduction rates in fresh weight, similar to the Taşkent cultivar. Though the Ulubatlı cultivar had the shortest seedlings, they exhibited a low reduction rate in seedling length at-2 bar of drought stress, as did Töre and Özkaynak cultivars. At that level of drought stress, those cultivars also indicated low reduction rates in fresh weight. Altogether, the Töre cultivar best tolerated salinity and drought conditions, the Özkaynak cultivar showed promise as well, whereas Taşkent and Gölyazı cultivars were the most sensitive to the conditions.

In the study reported here, six forage pea cultivars Töre, Taşkent, Özkaynak, Ulubatlı, Ürünlü, and Gölyazı were examined at different temperatures 20 °C (i.e., control), 15 °C, and 10 °C and sowing dates October 1, October 15, and November 1 in Eskişehir condition, to determine their cold tolerance during germination and as early seedling stages. Results included that survival rates varied among cultivars and by sowing date, with the highest rate achieved by Töre (98.2%) and the lowest (87.9%) by Ulubatlı; however, the high survival rates of the Töre, Taşkent, Özkaynak, Ürünlü, and Gölyazı varieties did not differ significantly. Early sowing negatively affected the survival rates of the Ulubatlı and Gölyazı cultivars more than the others. Survival rate correlated negatively with plant height and number of nodes but correlated positively with SPAD value and leaf relative water content. Gölyazı achieved the highest germination rate (92.8%) and Ulubatlı the lowest (81.8%), although the high rates of the Gölyazı, Töre, Taşkent, and Özkaynak cultivars did not significantly differ. Low temperatures adversely affected all observed characteristics, and seedling lengths highly paralleled survival rates obtained in field conditions. Taken together, such findings suggest that purple-flowered cultivars tolerate low temperatures better than white-flowered ones.