Effect of hydrophylic polymers on emergence and growth of tomato cv. co.3

摘要

Use of hydrophylic polymers in commercial production can hold 500 - 1500 times than their weight in pure water (Wallace and Wallace, 1986). Amendment of plant growing media with hydrophylic polymers often increased water holding capacity and improve seedling emergence, and early growth of seedlings. The polymers which are commercially available includes cross- linked acrylic polymers such as TerraCottem, Polyvinylalcohol and polyacrylamide. However, such materials are costly and made by capital intensive technology. Though hydrophylic polymers have a number of horicuitural applications, they have been proposed for testing seed germination and emergence. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of three polymers on seed emergence and growth of tomato plants.