Response of Seed of Seven Deciduous Fruits to Stratification Temperatures and Implications for Modeling

Abstract

Chilling-temperature response curves were obtained by testing seed germinability at 25°C after 0 to 2880 hr (120-hr intervals) of stratification at temperatures from −4° to 16°. The curves of the species tested were bellshaped with a definite skew to the cold side in some species. Some activity was detected at −2° and at 16°, the approximate limiting temperatures of the process. Dormancy was broken most rapidly at 4° in seeds of P. persica, P. communis (cold climate source), P. avium, P. mahaleb and M. domestica, whereas 6° was more effective in P. armeniaca, C. oblonga, and P. communis (warm climate source). The data were used to define a stratification degree hour and develop a stratification model for the seed of these species.