HARVESTING AND GERMINATION OF SEEDS OF IPÊ (Tabebuia chrysotricha)

Abstract

The objective of this work was to identify the moment of harvest and the substratum most favorable to the germination of the seeds of ipe (Tabebuia chrysotricha (Mart. former DC.) Standl). The pod beans of Tabebuia chrysotricha were harvested directly from the canopy of 12 matrix trees in october of 2004 and after, were separate in groups, according to the physical characteristics that identified the crop harvesting stage: 1) pod bean larger than 20 cm of length and shut; 2) pod bean smaller than 20 cm of length and shut; 3) pod bean beginning to open and 4) open pod bean and beginning to disperse. For characterization of the stages, the measure of the thickness, the width and the length of the pod beans was taken, except for those of the crop stage 4 that already had opened the pod which disable the procedure. The seed moisture content was determined. The germination test was done under constant temperature of 25 ° C in three substratum: filter paper, sand and vermiculite, and the evaluations were accomplished to the 7 and 14 days after the installation of the test. The statistical analysis was accomplished in a factorial design 4 x 3 (four crop stages and three substratum types) in a complete randomized design, with four replications of 50 seeds for each treatment. The means were compared in agreement with Tukey test (P>0,05). According to the results, was verified that the substratum vermiculite provided faster germination than the filter paper in any stage of harvesting of the seeds and that the seeds from the shut pod beans, with moisture content from 63.1 to 64.3% presented higher germination values, independent of the substratum used.