Effects of Microbubbles and Temperature on the Germination of the Saltmarsh Plant, Suaeda Malacosperma

Temperature and dissolved gas availability are important parameters for the germination of saltmarsh plants. As a newly developed method to increase the dissolved gas availability, the microbubble technology has shown to increase the crop germination and seedling growth. However, the effects of microbubbles (MBs) on the germination of saltmarsh plants have not been studied. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the MBs on the germination of. in different temperatures (6, 12, 18, 24 and 30ºC). The highest germination percent was observed at 24ºC in MBs water. The germination percent at MBs were significantly higher than those at control, deionized water at 24ºC. The germination energy (GE) was significantly higher at 24 and 30ºC than at 6 and 12ºC in both deionized and MBs waters. The mean germination time (MGT) was significantly shorter at 24 and 30ºC than at 6 and 12ºC in both waters. However, no significant effects of MBs were observed in terms of GE and MGT. This study suggests that MBs improves the germination percent of S. malacosperma at the optimal temperature (24ºC), but GE and MGT were not affected by MBs but by temperature in S. malacosperma.