Effect of Gibberellic Acid and Scarification on Seed Germination in Four Almond Species

Almonds belong to Prunus genus، which is related to Rosaceae family. It has close relatives with different species of stoned fruits. One of the main reasons for the long period of seed germination in Prunus is compound dormancy، such as the external seed cover as physical dormancy and embryo dormancy causes physiological dormancy. Seed stratification and treatments with various hormones are used to eliminate the physiological dormancy in Prunus genus seeds. Ancillary methods such as removing the shell and scarification are used in order to eliminate physical dormancy. This research was carried out in order to study the effect of scarification (scarification or lack of scarification) and gibberellic acid (0، 150، 300 and 450 mg/lit) on percent and rate of germination in four species of almond (Three wild species; Prunus elaeagnifolia، P. scoparia and P. lycioides and one domestic species; P. dulcis) in factorial design based on completely randomized design with three replications. Removing the shell caused a significant increase in the percentage and rate of germination in all species. In general، treatment of seeds with 300 mg/lit gibberellic acid increased percentage and rate of germination than control significantly، but according to depth of seed dormancy، the response of the species to the concentrations of gibberellic acid was different. According to the results، the seed germination amount is different in different genotype.