Abstract:
This study was conducted with the purpose of investigating the effect of drying
spiderplant seeds under direct sunlight and shade, on germination performance.
The plant materials used in the study were four morphotype selections: Green
Stem/Green Petiole (GG), Green Stem/Purple Petiole (GP), Purple Stem/Green
Petiole (PG) and Purple Stem/Purple Petiole (PP) made from mixed ecotype
collections of spiderplant sourced from Kakamega and Uasin Gishu Districts in
Western Kenya. The morphotypes were raised in a plastic-covered green house at
the Department of Crop Science and Seed Technology, Moi University, Eldoret,
Kenya. The pods of each morphotype were harvested and bulked separately as
they matured and turned yellow. The pods were threshed immediately after
harvesting and one portion of the seeds was dried under shade for 7 days, whilethe other portion was dried under direct sunlight for 4 days. The germination test
was performed in the research laboratory at Plant Research International,
Wageningen, The Netherlands. Four replicates each of 50 seeds, for the four
morphotypes, were incubated in the germination cabinet at 30 0C under
continuous darkness. Radicle protrusion was monitored regularly between 9 and
120 hours, from the start of incubation. The time taken to reach 50% maximum
germination (T50), mean germination time (MGT) and percent maximum
germination (Gmax) were calculated using the software package SeedCalculator
version 3.0 (Plant Research International, The Netherlands).
Sun drying resulted in significantly lower T50 and MGT, for morphotype PP, and
significantly higher Gmax for morphotypes GP and PG, compared to shade drying.
In conclusion the results obtained indicate generally that sun drying of
spiderplant seeds has some improvement effect on seed quality, as shown by the
lowered T50 in one of the four morphotypes and increased Gmax in two of the
four morphotypes.
