Germination Enhancement and Primary Establishment of Three Medicinal Plants

Lack of cultivation of some Apiaceae family plants caused damage and uncontrolled exploitation of pastures and severe fluctuations in these plant markets. Therefore, efforts are essential to study the domestication of these species. For germination enhancement of three species including Dorema aucheri Boiss., Echinophora cinerea (Boiss.) Hedge & Lamond and Ferulag oangulata (Schlescht.) Boiss., six experiments in laboratory and greenhouse conditions were designed and performed during 2017-2018. At first, a completely randomized design factorial experiment with two factors (the first factor including 13 treatments consisted of stratification, soaking in GA3 or KNO3 and the second factor including stratification temperature consisted of 5, 10 and 15°C) was executed. In the second experiment, seedlings establishment was investigated in the different substrates. The results indicated that different treatments such as chilling, GA3, KNO3, and their integration had a low effect on Dorema aucheri seed germination. The effect of stratification at 4°C for 45 days on Echinophora cinerea (97.8%) and at 15°C for 45 days on Ferulago angulata (97.8%) was so clear on germination factors. The use of different growth media showed that studied species require relatively light medium and moisture during and after germination. Accordingly, mixed soil and cocopeat with 1:1 was the best substrate. It should be noted that the suitable medium for the primary growth of seeds was very similar to their natural habitats.